Buffalo Chicken Salad

Tonight, I made a buffalo chicken salad for dinner.  (My sister’s wedding is in less than 2 weeks, so there will be a lot of salad until then!)  I checked out a few different recipes this afternoon (1 from Food Network Magazine, 1 from Rachael Ray, and 1 from Ellie Kreiger), and took ideas from all 3 of them.

Start by prepping all the veggies and the meat…

• Slice and wash 3 heads of romaine lettuce.  (Iceberg would work too.)

• Cut up 1 cucumber, 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots (don’t forget to peel them!), a yellow pepper, and a bunch of scallions.  (Feel free to use any veggies that you like, but I can’t imagine buffalo chicken without carrots and celery!!)

• Chop 4 cloves of garlic.

• Trim and cut 1 pound of chicken tenderloins into bite-size pieces.  (Use a different knife and cutting board!)

Next, cook the meat…

• Heat a skillet of medium-high heat.
• Add about 1-2 tablespoons of canola oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.

• Once the butter has melted, add the garlic and saute for a few minutes.

• When the garlic is golden, add the chicken.

• Cook the chicken (turning it) until golden brown.

• Once the chicken is golden brown, add about 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce.

• Let the chicken cook in the sauce until it thickens and is almost completely evaporated.  (Remember to stir occasionally!)

It should look like this when it’s done:

• While the chicken is cooking, assembly the salad.  (I threw in a couple of tomatoes at the last minute, chopped and seeded.)

To serve, I kept the chicken separate from the salad.  I dressed my salad on my plate with blue cheese dressing, and then topped it with the chicken.

The chicken had great flavor (even though I forgot to season it!!)  Next time, I will season it with black pepper.  It doesn’t really need salt.  This was a satisfying meal, even though it was just a salad.  Enjoy!