When we first started this diet back in January I was in the habit of working late on Mondays and picking up take-out on the way home. One of our favorite places for Monday night take out was BW3; we used to get wings, salads, and a couple of sandwiches or wraps. The problem that we have is that it's hard to eat take-out from this type of restaurant on a regular basis and maintain a diet. The bigger problem we have are the wings; those delicious wings with their breading and their spicy delectable buffalo sauce and their rich and tasty ranch and blue cheese dressing that just begs you to dip your wings into it. How devilish of you to tempt me and make me want you so much. But no, I understand that you don't fit well into my diet and that you are probably not a good choice for me. How many of you readers out there can relate to this?
Luckily, while looking through online recipes to find snacks for Friday nights I stumbled across buffalo chicken fingers. Could it be? Were wings going to be part of our diets after all? Well, sort of. As I read through the recipe I realized that these were not breaded wings but boneless, skinless chicken breast trimmed of all fat and cut into more manageable "fingers". The other difference between these chicken fingers and the standard wings that you'll find in a restaurant is these fingers are not soaking in a bowl of heavy buffalo sauce but are instead lightly coated in a lower fat buffalo sauce that has all of the kick and flavor of the restaurant style sauce. Also, when you make your own buffalo chicken at home you have the option of using low-fat ranch and blue cheese dressings instead of the full-fat dressings that you get with restaurant wings.
Now that we know there's a healthier alternative, let's look at today's snack.
Buffalo Chicken Fingers
Prep time 17 Min. Cook time 8 Min. Serves 4
Ingredients
1 spray cooking spray
1-1/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 16 strips
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fat-free margarine
4 tsp Frank's Red Hot sauce, or to taste
1/2 cup fat-free blue cheese dressing
4 ribs celery, cut into 4 sticks each
Instructions
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.
Place chicken on a plate and sprinkle with salt and paprika. Add chicken to skillet and cook, turning occasionally until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic; reduce heat to low, stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Remove skillet from heat; stir in margarine and hot sauce until margarine melts. Serve chicken with blue cheese dressing and celery on the side.
This recipe yields about 4 pieces of chicken, 4 celery sticks, and 2 tablespoons of dressing per serving.
This is a wonderful recipe that will allow you to have buffalo chicken in a more diet friendly way. I do want to caution you that if you make it for a get together consider making a double batch because it is sure to disappear fast. As always if you try this snack check back here and leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.
Next week - Mini Italian Meatloaves with Penne and Sauteed Zucchini or With a Twist.
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