30. Buffalo Chicken Salad

We’re big fans of buffalo wings in my family.  I love that spicy Frank’s Red Hot with cool blue cheese dressing and crunchy celery.  So why not combine them all in a salad?  Pure brilliance.

This is a very hearty, very flavorful salad.  It's very much like having wings, with all the flavors and textures you would expect.   It can definitely stand alone as the main event for dinner, with 2 lbs of chicken tenders.  

I thought about making individual salads, but I got lazy at the last minute and made it into one big family style salad.  If you want to do individual dinner salads, this recipe makes 4 very large (restaurant size), or 6 good-sized individual salads.

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken tenders, grilled

3 romaine hearts, chopped

3 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1/4 lb crumbed blue cheese

1/2 stick butter

3/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce

Blue Cheese Dressing

1/2 shallot, minced

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp chives, chopped

1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 lb blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 tsp each sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Make the dressing ahead of time to let the flavors mingle.  Combine all but the blue cheese in a large bowl and whisk.  Fold in the blue cheese.  Transfer to a covered jar and refrigerate.

Grill the chicken tenders (don’t overcook!) and set aside on a plate.  Combine the romaine, celery, onion, tomatoes and blue cheese crumbles in a large, wide bowl.

You can chop the cooked chicken tenders or keep them whole (or a combination of the two).  Melt the butter in a heavy skillet.  As soon as it’s bubbly, add the Frank’s Red Hot sauce and stir to combine.  Transfer the chicken to the pan and stir to coat.  Top the salad with the warm, spicy chicken and serve right away, with dressing on the side.

If you're not a fan of blue cheese, just leave it out and serve with ranch dressing.

Serves 4-8