pre-tailgating

Man talk about feeling out of it, I didn't realize it but the Super Bowl is like tomorrow. And I didn't even know who was playing in it...okay, before you get upset...I googled and now I know.

Anyway, when I do watch the game, it is usually only for the commercials.

This year, the game will be shown here, probably without the commercials and early in the morning of the 2nd at 8:00 am (which is the 1st with the time difference).

Anyway, one thing you should know is when I was younger, I didn't eat celery, something about it was blah...but can proudly say that I can now eat it raw and cooked.

So, as I was flipping through Ellie Krieger's book, "The Food You Crave", I came upon the recipe for her Buffalo Chicken Salad. While I wanted to make this, I debated about the recipe because it is too cold to be having a salad for dinner at this time of year, but then decided that since the chicken would be warm on top of the salad, it would be okay.

I had to adapt the recipe as I couldn't find some ingredients, but here is the original recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Salad by Ellie Krieger : Serves 4
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper hot sauce (or other hot sauce) plus more to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 heart of romaine, cut across into 1-inch wide strips (about 8 cups)
4 stalks celery, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
2 scallions (green part only), thinly sliced
1/2 cup Blue Cheese dressing (recipe follows)

Preheat the broiler.
Put the chicken between two sheets of waxed paper and pound with a mallet or hammer to an even thickness of about 3/4 inch, then cut the chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch thick strips.
In a large bowl, combine the hot sauce and oil, add the chicken, and toss until it is well coated.
Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and broil until it is cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes total, turning once.
In a large bowl, combine the romaine, celery, carrots and scallions and toss with the dressing.
Divide the greens between 4 plates and top with the warm chicken.
Serve with extra hot sauce on the side.

Blue Cheese Dressing : 6 servings (2 tablespoons for 1 serving)
1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
salt and ground pepper to taste

Fold a full sheet of paper towel into quarters and put it into a small strainer.
Spoon the yogurt onto the paper towel and place over a bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to drain and thicken.
In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and thickened yogurt into the mayonnaise until smooth.
Add the vinegar, and sugar and continue to whisk until well combined.
Stir in the blue cheese and season with salt and pepper.

NOTES: First off, I cut the recipe for the salad and dressing in half since there is only the two of us. I didn't pound out the chicken because the chicken breast that I bought was thinly sliced. I guess the broiler in my oven wasn't too hot so I ended up cooking it a total of 14 minutes turning it several times to check for doneness. The market didn't have romaine so I used green leaf. I also had to make buttermilk from scratch since I've never seen it at the market.

(For those interested in making buttermilk from scratch, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk. I'll leave you to calculate it to fit this recipe.) I also used green onion instead of scallions and added 5 crushed, toasted pecans per salad and a slice of toasted campagne bread.

I also didn't toss the salad with the dressing since Satoshi eats later than me. It was delicious, spicy and the pecans added even more crunch. The dressing was tangy and tasted like the "real deal"--creamy and didn't seem like a healthy version. I would definitely make this again.

This is something nice to eat while watching the game without all the calories.

Enjoy!