My favorite Thai restaurant serves an amazing chicken sate with a creamy, slightly exotic sauce. Cubes or thin slices of chicken are marinated, threaded onto skewers and grilled over charcoal. These piquant brochettes are inexpensive, flavorful and quick to prepare, and this is my Seriously Simple version. Figure about three to four brochettes per person as part of a meal, and one or two for an appetizer.

I think of this as a cousin to a shish kebab or yakitori. This adaptation combines an herb and citrus marinade with a coconut ginger flavored peanut sauce. While I usually serve these as a first course, I have been known to double the recipe and serve with side dishes to create a main course.

Feel free to substitute the chicken with pork, turkey, lamb or beef. You can have these marinated and ready to be grilled at the last minute for easy entertaining. Serve these with an ice cold beer or a rose wine.

Grilled Chicken Sate with Peanut Sauce

Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer

1 pound chicken tenders, cut in half lengthwise, or 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the marinade:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped

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