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.

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)

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!

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

I had a really rough "mom" day last week.  All I wanted was 10 minutes of quiet, alone time.  When my hubby came home I put myself in a time-out in my room.  Although it was anything but quiet in my house, I was alone.  I knew that if I didn't do something to keep myself busy, I would have fallen asleep immediately!  So I started flipping through recipe books, which is such a stress reliever for me.  This time proved to be productive, as I planned out dinner for the night.  I made these Chicken Fingers with the Seasoned Potato Bites and it was a huge hit with the whole family!  My 8 year old that hates chicken ate several pieces of this and my 6 year old had 4 servings of the potatoes.  My husband always loves anything like a chicken nugget (one of the things he really misses with the gluten allergy) and this was super easy to make gluten free!

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers (Adapted From Our Best Bites)
1 1/2 lbs. chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
2 eggs
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (you can make these from your bread, buy them at The Good Earth)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp curry powder
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop coconut and mix with bread crumbs and spices.  Place in shallow dish.  Beat the egg and place in another shallow dish, and put the cornstarch in a 3rd dish.  Roll each piece of chicken in the cornstarch, then in the egg, then in the bread crumb mixture until coated.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with sprayed foil. Bake until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

 This is one of our new favorite recipes around here so I thought I would post it.

The sauce is more like a gravy with a sweet and lemony flavor - so yummy!

 

Chinese Lemon Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
 3/4 ts table salt, divided
 1/4 ts freshly ground black pepper
 1/2 cup + 2 T cornstarch
 1 3/4 cup chicken broth
 2 large egg yolks
 2 T canola oil
 3 T packed light brown sugar
 2 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (can use bottled)
 1 tsp grated lemon zest

 1. Pat the chicken breasts (full or cut into strips/pieces) dry and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper

2. In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the cornstarch, 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and the egg yolks. Whisk until the batter is smooth. Dip each chicken piece into the batter, coating thoroughly.

3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until brown and done inside. Remove from the heat and keep warm using foil over your bowl or plate.

Captured the steam too!

4. In the same skillet, stir together the remaining 2 T of cornstarch, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, the brown sugar and ginger. Whisk in the remaining chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest.

 5. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice

Teriyaki Sauce

I found this recipe for Teriyaki Sauce on Our Best Bites

It is the perfect Teryaki Sauce...good flavor and not too sweet!  Super easy to make too!

My husband loves teriyaki sauce, but I really don't like it from a bottle. It is too strong for me.I made this sauce before knowing what I was even going to do with it... I just wanted to try it.   And I loved it! I decided to stir-fry some chicken in a little olive oil, added some garlic, pineapple, broccoli, and green bell pepper.  Once that was all ready I poured the sauce over and heated through.  We ate it over rice, it was a really yummy meal!  They also suggest using it as a marinade for steak and chicken before grilling.

 Teriyaki Sauce (Our Best Bites)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 Tbs. cold water

1. Combine sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2. While the soy sauce mixture is heating, whisk together cornstarch and cold water.  When the soy sauce mixture comes to a full boil, whisk in cornstarch mixture and stir sauce until thickened and clear.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Chicken Enchiladas

  I got the recipe for these enchiladas out of The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.  It recommended using their recipe for homemade enchilada sauce, which was really yummy.  I had quit making enchiladas because most canned enchilada sauces contain gluten, and I always thought doing it homemade would be too difficult.  This recipe was really simple and the enchiladas turned out really good.  I served them with Spanish Rice, Refried Beans and Fruit - successful dinner that everyone liked!

Chicken Enchiladas (Serves 6)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 to 3)
salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (recipe below)
1 cup finely crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese (I used feta)
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chiles
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
12 (6") soft corn tortillas
Vegetable oil spray
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Combine the chicken and enchilada sauce in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, 10-15 minutes.  When the sauce is simmering, flip the chicken over, cover, and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Transfer the chicken to a plate and shred it into bite sized pieces when cool enough to handle.  Combine the chicken, 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce, feta, chiles, and cilantro in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cover to keep warm while heating the tortillas.
4. Lightly coat both sides of the tortillas with vegetable oil spray.  Place 6 tortillas onto a baking sheet and bake until the tortillas are soft and pliable, 2-4 minutes. (*This is very important with the corn tortillas - otherwise they will be dry and will just crack and break when rolled - this made it SO easy!)
5. Working quickly while the tortillas are still warm and pliable, spread them out over a clean counter.  Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla.  Tightly roll each torilla around the filling and lay them, seam-side down, in a 9X13 inch baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling and increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.
6. Pour 1 cup more sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the cheddar.  Cover the baking dish with aluminum  foil and bake until the enchiladas are heated through, about 10 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes longer.  Serve with the remaining sauce separately.


Red Enchilada Sauce (makes 2 1/2 cups)
1 tsp. canola oil
1 onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. sugar
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5minutes.  Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  stir in the tomato sauce and water, bring to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

BBQ Chicken Spring Rolls

I love spring rolls!  I have tried a lot of variety with these.  Last night I made a really yummy version.  I forgot to take pictures, but I thought I'd write it down anyway... (If you are making these gluten free, make sure you get the rice wrappers)
I rolled the following in a spring roll wrapper:
Chicken with BBQ sauce (LOVE Sweet Baby Ray's) cooked in the crock pot, then shredded
Feta Cheese
Avacado
Purple Onion
Lettuce
Tomato
Carrot Shreds
Fresh Pineapple slices
And then dipped them in homemade ranch.  YUM!

Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry

I'm copying this from THIS WEBSITE.  This was a super easy and yummy recipe - we loved it! I didn't have fresh pineapple, so I used canned, and I didn't have the pineapple and chili dipping sauce, so I mixed some of the juice from the pineapple with sweet chili sauce and it tasted great! This would be great served with rice or quinoa!

Southwestern Egg Rolls with Avocado Ranch (Gluten Free)

I made this recipe for dinner tonight, I used rice spring roll wrappers and I also added chicken to it.  They were SO delicious...my picky 6 year old even ate 5 of them! I will definitely make these again!

Quinoa Stir Fry

This was a yummy stir fry!  I actually had planned on serving it over rice, but was out. I have had a box of quinoa forever that I haven't know what to do with, so I cooked it up in my rice cooker (EASY!) instead.  I was just waiting for my kids to complain that they weren't going to eat it, which usually happens at every dinner, but was pleasantly surprised that they all LOVED it!  They loved the stir fry and the quinoa and had multiple servings - no leftovers! This is definitely one I will make again!

Quinoa Stir Fry

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into pieces
1 T. olive oil
1 C. chicken broth
4 Tbs. soy sauce
4 tsp. sesame oil
1 C mushrooms
1-2 C. snap peas
2-3 small sweet peppers (yellow, red, or orange), cut into pieces

Cook chicken in oil until no longer pink.  Add mushrooms, peas, and peppers.  Cook over high heat until veggies are crisp tender. 
Mix together broth, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Pour over chicken and veggies and bring to a boil.  Serve over quinoa. (To cook quinoa in a rice cooker, use double the water as the quinoa and cook as you would rice)