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I've always thought buffalo sauce was disgusting, until the buffalo chicken dip Jon made shattered all my illusions. Turns out buffalo sauce is simply a vinegar-based cayenne sauce and it doesn't deserve my former categorization of it as only a nightmare smell from late-night wings in a college dorm room. Apparently I'm now a little fixated on buffalo chicken, because I can't seem to stop finding new ways to eat it. I really enjoyed the Dude Diet's take on a healthier buffalo chicken salad with Greek yogurt dressing as the base, diced poached chicken, and a sprinkle of blue cheese on top. If you already have poached (or otherwise cooked) chicken, there's no cook time whatsoever. Poaching the chicken will add about 15 minutes of cook time, but you can make the dressing and chop the vegetables for the salad while it cooks. Even better than poaching chicken? Sous vide the chicken breasts and finish them on the grill.
Take my advice and go easy on the Frank's Red Hot when you first make the dressing, you can always add more. I adapted Serena's recipe for a healthier buffalo chicken salad slightly, using cool chicken rather than warm (because different temperatures within a salad isn't for me) and omitting the carrots, onion, and blue cheese because I dislike carrots and onion in salad and I didn't have any blue cheese. Choose your toppings to suit yourself and enjoy this fabulous healthier buffalo chicken salad!
Original source: the Dude Diet
Ingredients
Dressing
- ½ cup (115g) nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon honey
- ⅛ teaspoon cumin*
Salad
- 2 chicken breasts poached** cooled and diced
- 2-4 tablespoons Frank's Red Hot cayenne pepper sauce***
- 6 cups chopped romaine hearts
- 2 ribs celery sliced thinly into half-moons (about 1 cup total)
- Optional:
- 1 cup shredded carrots about 2 whole carrots
- ¼ medium red onion thinly sliced
- 2 ounces blue cheese
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing.****
- Add the romaine, celery, carrots, and red onion (if using) to the bowl of dressing. Toss to combine and coat the vegetables with dressing. [If you prefer minimal dressing on your salads, make the dressing in a separate bowl and add only half to the vegetables in their own large bowl, adjust as desired.]
- Add the wing sauce to the diced chicken breasts and toss to coat.
- Divide the salad into two large bowls. Top each bowl with half the chicken and sprinkle with half the blue cheese (if using).
Notes
**Use your favorite recipe for cooking chicken or simply poach by adding chicken breasts to a medium saucepan, ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper, 1 bay leaf, and enough water to cover the chicken by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, the continue cooking about 8-10 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer measures 165 F in the thickest part of the chicken. Remove the chicken and place on a plate. Cover with foil and let cool.
***You could alternatively use ⅓ cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
****The dressing can be made in advance and stored up to 2 days ahead in the refrigerator.
