Table Talk: Buffalo Chicken Salad

This week is my turn to host.This was an easy pick for me - I love entree salads.  And our family loves Wings + Blue Cheese Dressing, so I figured this would be a hit!

 I loved this salad.

I loved the flavor of the chicken - definitely "buffalo" but not too spicy.  I didn't think the dressing was flavorful enough, but I added some blue cheese chunks to the salad and it was perfect!  I am curious to see how the chicken turned out for the other members of the group because all of my breading pretty much fell off when I cut the chicken, but that was not too big of an issue.  We will definitely have this again.  However, I don't know that I will stick to the carrots and celery only - I love to put as many veggies (and even fruits) as I can on my salads! 

Buffalo Chicken Salad - The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook pg. 80

Serves: 4

The brand of hot sauce you use can have a dramatic effect on the flavor and spice level of the Buffalo sauce; our favorite brand of hot sauce is Frank's RedHot Original Sauce.  Since Frank's is a very mild sauce, if you use a hotter sauce such as Tabasco, you will want to use about half as much.

Chicken:

1/2 cup hot sauce

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp. light molasses

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

4 (6 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. canola oil

Salad:

3 romaine lettuce hearts (about 1 pound), torn into bite-sized pieces

3 celery ribs, sliced thin

2 carrots, peeled and shredded

3/4 cup Blue Cheese Dressing (recipe to follow)

1. For the Chicken:  Whisk the hot sauce, butter, and molasses together in a bowl; set aside.  Whisk the cornmeal and cornstarch together in a shallow dish.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with the salt and pepper.  Thoroughly coat the chicken with the cornmeal mixture, pressing on the coating to help it adhere.

2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking.  Carefully lay the chicken breasts in the skillet and cook until well browned on the first side, 6-8 minutes.  Flip the chicken, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook until the chicken registers 160 to 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 6-8 minutes longer.

3. Transfer the chicken breasts to a carving board and let rest for 5 minutes.  Slice the chicken cross-wise into 1/2-inch -thick pieces.

4. For the Salad:  Toss the lettuce, celery, and carrots with the dressing, then divide it among four plates.  Toss the chicken with the hot sauce mixture, arrange on top of the salads, and serve.

Blue Cheese  Dressing:

Makes about 1 cup

If you prefer a mild blue cheese flavor, use a less pungent blue cheese, such as Stella.

1/4 cup crumbled strongly flavored blue cheese, such as Roquefort or Stilton (about 1 oz)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup light mayonaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp. water

2 tsp. white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. pepper

Mash the blue cheese and buttermilk together with a fork in a bowl until the mixture resembles cottage cheese with small curds.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week for Table Talk we baked healthy(er) chocolate chip cookies. 

This recipe had you brown a portion of the butter before mixing it in.  The purpose was to give it a "toffee" taste. I loved it!  I especially loved the way it tasted in the dough!  Also after making the dough ball, you pushed 3 chocolate chips into the top of each cookie. I really like the way that made them looked baked. I used a gluten-free flour so my cookies were a bit more flat, but they were delicious! I loved this recipe and will definitely try it again!  Check out Valerie's blog and you can try it too!

Vegetable Lo Mein

This was a great pick by Talesha this week!  My kids even compared it to Panda Express - which is awesome!  I was able to use gluten-free spaghetti, my hubby hasn't had anything like this in about 15 years and he loved it.  I served it with Sesame Chicken, I ended up mixing mine together and really liked the combo - I think next time I make it I will just add some chicken or beef to it.  Flavor was great - not too strong.  Definitely check out this recipe on Talesha's Blog!

Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

I have to say I really wasn't sure about this week's recipe.  But I made these today for lunch so I had the advantage of checking out  Amanda's post before I made them.  I loved her idea of serving it sandwich-style.  And wow, her rolls look uh-mazing! Her photos seriously made me want to go eat at her house!

So I went to work.  And the results?  They were OK. Definitely better than I expected, but no wow factor for me.

   I did follow suit and make a healthier "sandwich", lettuce-wrap style.  I added avacado and purple onions, which added great flavors, of course.  If you're looking for a great vegetarian option - this might be it! Check out Amanda's blog for the recipe (and mouth-watering pictures)!

Creamy Chicken and Spinach Casserole

This week we made a pasta dish. I was out of gluten-free penne, so I used corkscrew noodles instead. I wasn't super excited about this dish, but was pleasantly surprised - it turned out really good! I used a 9X13 pan; I did end up using more noodles and chicken, and it totally filled my pan.  The whole family liked it - so a definite plus! And I'm shocked at how healthy it was for a creamy sauce, no butter, cream, cream cheese, etc.   Check out Jen's blog for the recipe!
(Oh - and I also subbed rice flour for the regular flour to make it gluten-free)

Pork Chops

This week is my first time to host Table Talk. 

 My choice was Sauteed Boneless Pork Chops with Quick Ginger-Apple Chutney.

We have done recipes with shrimp, beef, turkey sausage and chicken, so I figured it would be fun to do a pork recipe, and this one stood out to me. I thought these were really good! I liked the apple and fresh ginger (which I added more of) flavors together with the pork.  I also usually bake or crock-pot my pork chops, so I liked trying a recipe to saute them.  My family really liked this dish, I will definitely try it again sometime.

 Sauteed Boneless Pork Chops with Quick Ginger-Apple Chutney 

America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook page 292 

If the pork is enhanced, do not brine. If brining the pork, do not season with salt in step 1.

4 (6 oz) boneless pork chops, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, brined if desired

Salt and pepper 

2 tsp. canola oil 

1 lb. Granny Smith apples (2 or 3), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 

1 onion, minced 

1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup apple cider
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Brown the chops well on the first side, about 3 minutes.

2. Flip the chops over, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook until the chops register 140 to 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer the pork chops to a platter, tent loosely with the aluminum foil, and let rest while making the chutney.

3. Add the apples and onion to the fat left in the skillet, cover, and cook over medium-low heat until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover, stir in the ginger, allspice, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the cider and brown sugar, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 4 minutes. 

4. Stir in any accumulated meat juice and return to a brief simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste, spoon the sauce over the chops, and serve.

Per Serving:  Cal 390; Fat 11g; Sat Fat 3g; Chol 95 mg; Carb 37 g; Protein 38 g; Fiber 2g; Sodium 260 mg

Penne With Chicken, Asparagus, and Lemon

Our Table Talk pick this week was a pasta dish.  

 This is definitely something I wouldn't have tried on my own - I am almost ashamed to admit I have never actually cooked asparagus before.    

I found some gluten-free penne pasta at Costco that I hadn't tried  - it was made with brown rice, quinoa, amaranth and corn. It was really good and made for a great gluten-free dinner!

I made regular pasta for my kids. I had nieces and nephews staying with me, and didn't figure they would touch it, but was surprised that they really liked it! My 8 year old nephew ate 3 huge plates of it!  Impressive!

I used extra chicken, dried spices, and left out the leek and wine (subbing for chicken broth).  With just those few changes, though, the flavor was great!

If you want the recipe, head over to Valerie's blog!

Pan Seared Shrimp

This week's pick for Table Talk was

Pan Seared Shrimp with Garlic and Lemon

I. Love. This. Recipe.  It is so fast and easy, but the results are amazing!  Before cooking them, I added lemon pepper rather than just regular pepper, and a little salt. With that, the garlic, lemon, and parsley, they had such a great flavor! 

Everyone in the family agreed. I think they could totally pass for a Red Lobster menu item.  Yep, in my opinion, that good!

Check out the recipe at Janet's Blog

Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli

Stir Fried Beef and Broccoli

This was Amanda's pick this week - and it was a great one!  This was a pretty simple recipe - there was a lot of prep work as far as cutting and marinating the meat, cutting veggies, and making two sauces; however, once the cooking began it was a quick and easy recipe.  

The results?  AMAZING! My family really loved this dish! It was even mentioned that it could be from Panda Express - only better! Wow, that's a big deal around here.  I should mention that we love pretty much any dish with fresh ginger and sesame oil - those add such great flavor!  There was an option for hoisin or oyster sauce - I went with the oyster sauce. I loved the bright colors - it made for a beautiful, healthy, delicious meal!

So glad we tried this - check out Amanda's blog for the recipe!

Chicken Parmesan

For 2013 we switched our baking group to a dinner group:

Table Talk will be posting dinner recipes twice a month.
We are using the America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.

For our first week, Jen picked Chicken Parmesan!

 A favorite of mine, I was excited to make this!

It turned out awesome!  Everyone in my family LOVED it!  It was devoured and I'm already being asked when I will make more!  

Check out Jen's blog for the recipe!