Ellie's Buffalo Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

It's been a while since I've made something that both J and I loved. We kinda have opposite food views. I would be fine if I never ate the same thing twice in my entire life, and he would rather stick to the same 10 things that he knows he loves. Diff'rent strokes I guess, but it would be nice to have an intrepid explorer to sample smoked lung with (apparently the texture is divine). I'll have to rely on my brother for that, right dude?


Anyway, this dish was a HUGE success all around. We literally licked our plates clean. Hubby loved it because it's a familiar classic, and I loved it because it had big, bold, unexpected flavors. Whoever first thought to pair spicy, vinegary hot sauce with blue cheese was a frickin' genius. And unlike the original, this version balanced out the richness, by cutting out the deep frying and incorporating some fresh flavors and crunch in the salad and extra veggies.

I made a couple changes to the original recipe, which you can find online here, but voila, my version:



Buffalo Chicken Salad
adapted from The Food You Crave, by Ellie Krieger

1/3 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 head butter lettuce
1 carrot, thinly sliced or coarsely shredded
3 stalks celery, cut in 1 inch pieces
3 scallions, green parts only
2 cups Blue Cheese Dressing

Pound chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness and cut into 3 inch strips, similar to a chicken tender size. Or use tenders. Put chicken in a big ziploc bag, add hot sauce and olive oil, smush to combine and let marinate for 10-15 minutes. Preheat broiler to high, and then broil chicken for 5-6 minutes, flipping once. Prepare salad by tearing lettuce into bite sized pieces and tossing with carrots, celery and scallions. Top salad with chicken and dressing, and prepare to be blown away!

Thank you so much to, oh wait, I picked this recipe out, so good work, self! Stop by the Craving Ellie in My Belly website to see how the rest of the group did, and if you're interested in cooking a new healthy recipe with a bunch of fun people every week, new members are always invited!