Hawaiian Grilled Chicken with Hawaiian Plate-Lunch-Style Macaroni Salad

Everyone has their favorite Hawaiian BBQ place.  When I lived in Southern California, Aloha Chicken was the place.  Their chicken was so juicy, the macaroni salad great and they had this amazing dressing on the little green salad that came with it.  I still miss that place.  Here in Vegas, we love L & L.  But these days eating out is getting quite expensive.  So when you can replicate one of your favorite eateries dishes, that is huge!  And here is one of those.  I found this recipe on Pinterest which is a treasure trove of great recipes.  It comes from the blog A Dash of Thyme at http://www.adashofthyme.com/. 

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken

  

Ingredients:

·       3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

·       2 cups low sodium soy sauce

·       2 cups water

·       1 1/2 cups brown sugar

·       1 bunch of green onions, chopped (save some for the top)

·       1/4 cup white onion, chopped

·       1/2-1 tsp. minced garlic

·       1 tsp. of sesame oil

·       13.5oz can of coconut milk

Directions:

    Remove visible fat from chicken thighs. 

    Mix soy sauce, water, brown sugar, onions, garlic, sesame oil, and coconut milk in a large bowl. Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours or overnight.

    Drain marinade from chicken and shake off excess onions and garlic.   

    Grill chicken at a low heat so that the marinade does not burn for 5-7 minutes per side or until done.

    Serve with rice or macaroni salad, top with green onion and additional soy sauce.

Servings:  6-8

It's pretty simple to make.  The most work you'll do is chopping the onion and the garlic.  Only use chicken thighs as chicken breasts will not be as tender and juicy.  The recipe calls for a low-sodium soy sauce.  I didn't have any on hand so I used the regular stuff.  I would say if you're trying to cut down on salt, use the low-sodium version.  But if you don't want to pay more for it, you'll be ok with the regular version.    

The recipe calls for you to grill at a low heat.  Don't dismiss this.  The brown sugar in the marinade will burn quickly.  

I am not including Weight Watchers plus points for this recipe because the majority of the ingredients are in the marinade and since the marinade is discarded I don't think the points the WW recipe calculator would give me would be accurate.  

Hawaiian Plate-Lunch-Style Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

·       1 1b. elbow macaroni

·       1/4 cup finely grated onion

·       2 1/2 cups mayonnaise

·       1 tbsp. vinegar

·       finely grated carrot, to taste

·       pickle relish, to taste

·       salt and pepper, to taste

·       1/4-1/2 tsp. ground allspice

·       paprika, optional

Directions:

Cook macaroni to package directions.  You'll want a soft texture, past al dente.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Allow to drain completely.  Combine all ingredients.  Stir well and then refrigerate.  You can dress up for serving with a light sprinkling of paprika on top.

Servings:  8

I did a quick search for Hawaiian style macaroni salad and found this one from Hawaiimagazine.com.  They gave two recipes and I added a smidge of two items that were in the second recipe, ground allspice and white vinegar.  

I cooked the macaroni to al dente.  I would recommend going 3-4 minutes past this stage.  It just needs that soft texture.  But be careful.  If you overcook pasta, it just seems to have no flavor at all. Enjoy!