BBQ Honey And Soy Chicken With Cucumber, Watercress And Toasted Sesame Salad

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon; a pleasant 20C, sunny, blue sky with not a cloud in the sky. I bumped into an old friend on the street after picking up a few essentials from the grocer. She mentioned lunch and I said "why not I cook something simple and we can have that in the garden?" and that was what happened next.

BBQ chicken and a refreshingly light salad was quite an appropriate dish to welcome the early arrival of spring I think, besides it is so simple to prepare leaving us plenty of time to catch up and enjoy the lovely afternoon.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 3 to 4 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
7 chicken thighs, excess fat removed
1 continental cucumber
1 bunch of watercress, picked
a pinch of toasted sesame seeds

for the marinade and dressing;
5 cm knob of ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
6 tbs of Japanese soy
2 tbs of honey
2 tbs of mirin
2 tsp of sesame oil
juice from half a lime

Prepare the marinade/dressing, check for seasonings and adjust the taste.

Marinate the chicken pieces with 2/3 of the prepared marinade/dressing for at least an hour or overnight for the best result.

For the salad - use a vegetable peeler to peel/slice the cucumber lengthwise into long and thin ribbons and mix with the picked watercress. Dress the salad with the remaining marinade/dressing and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds just before serving.

BBQ the chicken thighs until golden and cooked through.

Rest chicken for a few minutes and serve with the dressed salad. A nice crisp white went down very well with our meal in the sunny courtyard.