Buffalo Chicken Salad

Courtesy of Plated Perfection
(Chicken seasoning courtesy of Cooking Light)


I have a serious obsession with buffalo chicken. My love affair is more with the sauce itself, but buffalo chicken is one of my favorite foods ever. Anyone that knows me can attest to that! I had some chicken thighs to use up and was craving buffalo sauce and ranch dressing (one of the best matches ever made). I thought I'd give this a shot. The recipe was originally just for the buffalo chicken thighs, but I decided to just make a salad with it. It was DELICIOUS. Definitely give this a shot! 

Ingredients
6 tb all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cayenne red pepper
8 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
3 tb hot sauce (I used Frank's)
1 tb butter
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or whichever cheese you prefer)
Ranch Dressing (to serve with the salad)
Lettuce for salad (I used butter lettuce) 

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; seal. Shake to blend. Add half of chicken to bag; seal. Shake to coat. Remove chicken from bag, shaking to remove excess flour mixture. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add flour-coated chicken to pan; sauté 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer browned chicken to a baking dish. Repeat procedure with the remaining uncooked chicken, flour mixture, and oil. Discard remaining flour mixture. Bake chicken at 375° for 8 minutes or until done.
3. Combine hot sauce and butter in a microwave-safe dish; microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or until butter melts, stirring to blend.
4. Top salad with the cheddar cheese, one chicken thigh, and drizzle the buffalo sauce on top of the salad. Serve with Ranch.

 

Egg Roll Wrapper Lasagna with Caper Vinegarette Salad

I had leftover egg roll wrappers and had no idea what to do with them -- but, thanks to Google, I found out you could make egg roll wrapper lasagna. I was intrigued. I just kind of threw together some different, random recipes and it turned out very delicious!

Meat Sauce:
Saute a small yellow onion and about 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil. Once soft, add a pound of lean ground beef. Cook the meat until it's done. Season with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. Add a 28 oz can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes (my favorite anyway) and a 6 oz can of tomato paste. I got both of those flavored with italian seasoning as well. Stir and simmer for a few minutes.

Vegetables:
You can choose whichever vegetables you want to use, but make enough to cover one layer of the lasagna. I chose zucchini, carrots and asparagus. I shred one zucchini and about half a bag of small carrots. I sauteed these with a little vegetable oil and italian seasoning. You don't want to cook them too much, just for a couple of minutes. I cut the asparagus into small pieces but did not cook these quite yet.

Assembly and Cooking the Lasagna:
Spread a layer of the meat sauce in the lasagna dish and then add a layer of the egg roll wrappers to fit the bottom. You may need to cut the wrappers to make them fit. Add a thick layer of meat sauce and sprinkle with italian blend cheese. Add another layer of egg roll wrappers, another layer of sauce, and a layer of all vegetables (I just laid the asparagus on top of the sauteed vegetables. Sprinkle with more cheese. Add another layer of wrappers, sauce and cheese. I added some grated parmesan to the top as well. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Salad with Caper Vinegarette:
Romaine lettuce & feta are added to a bowl. The dressing is then tossed on top.

1/4  cup  red wine vinegar
1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
1  tablespoon  capers
1  tablespoon  honey mustard
2  teaspoons  extravirgin olive oil
1/2  teaspoon  sugar
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper