Sambal Chicken Skewers with Pineapple Jicama Salsa

I know, I know... another sambal-centric dish.  But, in my defense, these dishes were eaten a month apart, only blogged right in a row. Furthermore, this Bon Appetit recipe made the cover of the July issue, so the juicy chicken was just staring at me constantly from the coffee table, tempting me.  It had to be made.

A simple, tasty marinade/sauce for BBQ chicken, for sure.  However, for me, like in the case of the sambal/banana/shrimp dish, my Indonesian sambal (labeled "EXTRA PEDAS") was a bit too spicy... I think the heat from the stuff I buy here is several notches higher than the sambal oelek you get in the U.S.   Tim and I had a couple coughing fits while eating this (which may also be partially due to the fact that I cooked this chicken on the cast iron grill pan inside, being too lazy to wait for the charcoal to heat up outside). We did think the flavor was nice despite the excessive heat, though.

I served the chicken with a side of cooling pineapple-jicama salsa and some lime and cilantro couscous.  I think the salsa was the big hit of the night: crunchy, fresh, a little sweet, super healthy... give this recipe a try for sure!

Shrimp with Sambal and Banana

Right before heading out on our 'round the world trip, the Real Martha cooked up this tasty dish that combined unusual ingredients (shrimp, overripe bananas and sambal?).  Before she made it I tried to convince her to make something else, assuring her that she would eat more rice and sambal than she ever dreamed of when in Indonesia, but she had seen this recipe on the Food Network and was itching to make it...  I'm glad she did because it came out pretty tasty!  An interesting mix of sweet, spicy and savory.

Definitely a good use for bananas that have sneakily gone overripe (other than making a variety of banana shakes).  The Indonesian sambal we used may have been a bit too spicy, but that's easily remedied by leaving a little bit out next time.  I bet chicken, tofu or tempeh would work well in lieu of the shrimp, too.