Buffalo Chicken Salad

In my continuing quest to eat healthily today I made myself a most delicious Buffalo Chicken Salad for my lunch, once again pinching and adapting it from a recipe I found in the cookery book, "The Food You Crave," by Ellie Krieger. (Fabulous book by the way. Everything tastes so good!)



I didn't have chicken breasts, but I did have chicken tenders and so I used them instead. I just popped them into a plastic baggie and pounded them a bit with the bottom of the vinegar bottle, so that they were of an even thickness throughout.



I had some Louisanna Hot Sauce that someone had gifted me with, so I used that, but you can use Tabasco or any other hot sauce you may have. (Taste it first to see how hot it is and adjust accordingly.) I also sprinkled mine with some paprika for colour, and seasoned it lightly with some fine sea salt. (I am trying to break the salt habit, but it's hard!)



Ellie called for grating the carrot, but I thought cutting the carrot into ribbons with a vegetable peeler was much prettier and gave a nice texture to the dish. As well, I used a baby gem lettuce, broken into leaves as I had cut the salad ingredients back to feed only one. (My man is not a salad man per se. Salad for lunch. He's just not going there!)



The real winner here is that luciously rich salad dressing. It's hard to believe that it is low fat! It's creamy and just wonderful and full of flavour. I used Danish Blue Cheese and it's just marvelous how much flavour just a little blue cheese can add!!



All in all I gave this salad a rousing 10 out of 10, for ease, for presentation and for taste! Just call me one very happy camper! Low fat and low calorie doesn't have to equate with low taste.



*Buffalo Chicken Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A delicious chicken salad with crisp vegetables, spicy chicken tenders and a fabulous low fat blue cheese dressing!

For the salad:
1 pound chicken tenders (or boneless skinless chicken breast meat, pounded and cut into 1/2
inch thick strips.)
2 TBS hot pepper Sauce (Tabasco, Louisianna, or some similar sauce)
2 tsp olive oil
1 heart of Romaine lettuce, cut into 1 inch wide strips (about 8 cups)
4 stalks of celery, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced into strips with a vegetable parer
2 spring onions, the green part only, thinly sliced (scallions)
1/2 cup of the blue cheese dressing (see below)

Preheat the grill of your oven to high. Put the chicken tenders in a plastic bag and pound out to an even thickness. Place in a bowl and combine with the hot sauce and olive oil, tossing well to coat. Arrange on a baking sheet and put until the grill. Grill for about 4 to 6 minutes, until cooked through, turning once halfway through the cooking time.

Combine the lettuce, celery, carrot and spring onions in a large bowl. Divide between 4 chilled plates. Top with the warm chicken. Drizzle each with a portion of the dressing.

*Blue Cheese Dressing*
Makes 3/4 cup

Delicious "light" version of a classic blue cheese dressing.

2 fluid ounces of plain non fat yoghurt (1/4 cup)
2 fluid ounces of nonfat buttermilk (1/4 cup)
2 TBS low fat or no fat mayonnaise
1 TBS white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp white sugar
75g of crumbled blue cheese (1/3 cup)
fine seasalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk the yoghurt, buttermilk, mayonnaise and vinegar together until smooth. Whisk in the sugar until it dissolves. Stir in the crumbled blue cheese and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.



And in The Cottage today, Bread Bowl Meatball Sandwiches.

New Year’s Day Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing – Good Luck with That!

This spinach salad with black-eyed peas is a twist on one of my favorite American culinary traditions; the custom of serving beans and greens on New Year's Day. Supposedly eating "poor" on New Year’s Day brings much wealth and good luck throughout the year.

The greens, usually braised with ham or sausage, represents paper money, and the beans, usually black-eyed peas, symbolize coins. Here, we’re presenting those ingredients in salad form, which is a great delivery system for our hot bacon dressing– the true star in this video.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is, “Eat more bacon,” then here’s another delicious way to work it into your diet. This peppery, sweet and tangy sauce is fast to make, and shines on other things besides wealth-generating spinach salads.

Wouldn’t this be great in a warm potato and mushroom salad, as well as a sauce for a grilled chicken breast or pork chop? What about spooned over poached eggs, or slathered on sweet potato fries? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

If making and eating this salad on January 1st doesn’t really bring you prosperity in 2012, it will certainly bring you some tasty memories, and other pleasures money can’t buy. Happy New Year, and enjoy!

Hot Bacon Dressing Ingredients: (makes about 1 1/3 cup – or 6 servings)

1/2 pound bacon, sliced and cooked in 1/4 cup vegetable oil (reserve bacon pieces and bacon fat drippings)

1/2 cup minced onions

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/3 cup of the bacon fat drippings

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp cold water

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

For 6 Spinach Salads:

1 pound baby spinach, washed and dried

12 white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes

1 (15-oz) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

Little Gems with Blue Cheese Dressing

After all the gluttony and rich food of the past few days my soul was craving something green and good for me today. I do so love a good salad . . . the Toddster . . . not so much. But I torture him with one once in a while! I'm such a bad puddy tat and I am so mean to him!!



I just adore Baby Gem Lettuces. I am not sure what the equivalent would be in North America. They are tiny lettuces, almost like miniature Romaine or Cos lettuces, about 4 inches long and compact . . . with a great colour and almost bitter flavour. They come in green and red. I suppose you could use Romaine hearts instead if that is all you can get.



I love this salad with it's simple flavours, textures and colours. You get the crisp, slightly bitter lettuce quarters . . . the creamy bite of blue cheese crumbles, the sharpness of the chopped spring onions . . . combined with the tanginess of that lovely apple cider and blue cheese dressing. Oh, it is just my favourite salad of all time. Truly. And just perfect for a light lunch after all the heavyness of the past week.



*Little Gems With a Blue Cheese Dressing*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is one of my favourite salads. Simple ingredients, complex flavours. It all adds up to a truly delicious salad. Just perfect for these warmer days.

2 TBS cider vinegar
2 TBS heavy cream
3 1/2 ounces extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces blue cheese
(I like to use either Cashel Blue or Stilton)
2 fat little gem lettuces
2 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 TBS sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk the vinegar and cream together with a little seasoning. Whisk in the sugar until it dissolves. Gradually whisk in the olive oil. Fold in the cheese.

Wash the lettuces and dry them really well. Cut the lettuces into wedges lengthwise and fan them out on 4 chilled salad plates. Drizzle over the dressing, dividing it equally amongst the salads. Sprinkle evenly with the spring onions. Serve immediately.



In the Cottage today, Tomato & Herb Crusted Haddock.

Cranberry Mustard Salad Dressing – You’ll Be Tickled Some Kind of Pink

For whatever reason, pink sauces are considered somewhat visually offensive in the foodie universe, so when describing this cranberry mustard salad dressing to your friends and family, please use hipper alternatives like, “ballet slipper” or “rosy mauve.”

Whatever it’s called, I actually love the color of this vinaigrette, and think it’s especially gorgeous with the classic fall/winter salad palette. I served it over some endive garnished with persimmons, pistachios, and pomegranate seeds, and it tasted as bright and pretty as it looked.

One word of caution regarding the ingredient amounts listed below: I like my salad dressings on the acidic side, so be sure to taste and adjust the amount of oil you add. You want to be careful with the walnut oil, as too much can overpower the dressing, but you can add more vegetable or olive oil, until it’s perfectly balanced for your palate.

As I joke about in the video, this seasonal vinaigrette is perfect for the non-cook to bring to a family gathering. We’re talking about a minimal effort to get what could potentially be lots of loving praise, or at the very least, fewer disappointed glances. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 2 1/4 cups of dressing:

1/4 cup prepared fresh cranberry sauce

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 small garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

[note: you can use 1/2 cup of any vinegar(s) you like]

1/4 cup walnut oil

1 cup vegetable oil or light olive oil, or as much as needed to balance acidity to your taste

Pork, Bacon and Sage Escalopes

I have had this recipe kicking around my recipe files for several years now. It comes from a little booklet that I picked up at our local Waitrose when we were living down South in Kent.



It's entitled Essential Summer, Waitrose Seasons Cookbook 2009. I always love the Waitrose recipes. They are usually very, very good.



Actually I really miss Waitrose up here in Chester. The food they sold was always of exceptional quality. It may have cost a bit more, but I never ended up having to throw any of it away. Today alone I had to throw away a packet of spring onions and half a cucumber. I only bought them on Friday. I won't say where . . . unfortunately they had already turned, in just 3 days. That shouldn't happen, but it happens all too often. It's a disgrace!



Anyways, back to the recipe. Delicious pork loin steaks, cut in half and pounded until thin . . . wrapped in bacon strips, with some sage leaves tucked in . . . brushed with a grainy mustard oil and then grilled on the barbeque until scrummy delicious.

Served up with a moreish honey and grainy mustard dressing, they were fabulous!




*Pork, Bacon and Sage Escalopes*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Delicious pork cutlets, flavoured with sage, wrapped in bacon, brushed with a mustard flavoured oil and grilled until scrum yum delicious!

3 thin pork loin steaks (about 1 pound in total) (Preferably free range, organic)
6 rashers of thin cut smoked streaky bacon (dry cure)
14 large sage leaves
4 tsp grainy mustard
1 TBS clear honey
4 TBS mild olive oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Prepare and light the grill. Cut the pork loin steaks in half, then pound them lightly between two sheets of clingfilm until they are about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin, taking care not to tear the meat.

Wrap a rasher of bacon around each piece of meat, tucking in two sage leaves and securing the bacon and sage leaves in place with wooden picks. Place in the refrigerator to chill while you make the oil and dressing.

Whisk together 2 tsp of the mustard, along with the honey, 2 TBS of the oil, the white wine vinegar and the Worcestershire Sauce. Set aside for the dressing.

Whisk together the remaining oil and mustard. Finely chop the remaining sage leaves and stir in. This will be used for basting the pork while you are cooking it.

Cook the meat on the barbeque for approximately 3 to 5 minutes per side, basting with the mustard oil mixture, until the juices run clear. Serve hot with some of the mustard honey dressing spooned over top.

Note: To cook indoors, grill in a hot skillet, gently frying on both sides for about 3 to 4 minutes per side and brushing with the mustard flavoured oil.

Peach and Escarole Salad – 'Cause I'm Tired of Greens You Can Gum!

This magnificent peach and escarole salad was inspired by one Michele and I had on our recent trip to New York City. We were taken out to dinner by my publisher (which has nothing to do with the story, but I really enjoyed typing that) to a place called Hearth, in the East Village.

The salad course was a plate of roughly torn escarole, dressed with a slightly sweet sherry vinaigrette. As I ate, I kept thinking to myself, damn, this is one delicious salad. The odd thing was, it took me a good while to actually put my finger on what exactly made it so wonderful.

Then it hit me. It was made with real, full-grown, somewhat tough, slightly bitter greens. 95% of the salads I eat in restaurants these days are made with the ubiquitous "baby greens" – that bland, one-dimensional, melt-in-your-mouth mixture of lettuce, so soft and delicate you don't even need a set of teeth to eat them.

This was the polar opposite of that. I had almost forgotten how interesting a salad could be! So, when Michele brought home a couple small heads of escarole one afternoon, I decided to film a salad recipe video, combining the mas macho greens with sweet peaches, goat cheese, and walnuts.

One trick with escarole is to make sure you are using a sweet enough dressing to offset the bitterness. I accomplished that with a dressing of sherry and rice vinegar, and then, just to hedge my bets, I added some perfectly ripe peaches to the mix. The result was one of the best salads I've had in years. Enjoy!




Peach and Escarole Salad Ingredients:
1 small head escarole (smaller is better, as it gets too bitter when large)
1 ripe peach
4 oz goat cheese
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoon olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste