Buffalo Chicken Salad

Craving a salad, and something spicy last night I used some boneless-skinless chicken thighs to make this take-off on Buffalo Chicken wings, but baked, not deep fried.

I sliced the chicken thighs into fat strips, dipped them in buttermilk (water or milk would also do) then rolled them in a typical recipe for oven-fried chicken and baked them.

Oven Fried Chicken Thighs

About 4 or 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch thick strips, (leaving the strips the length of the thighs)

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

about 1/4 cup butter or margarine

Preparation:Preheat oven to 425° -F

Mix coating ingredients in a shallow dish or plastic bag, set aside.

Rinse chicken, shake off extra water and dip into buttermilk (or milk, water). pat dry with paper towels. Coat chicken with the flour mixture.

Put butter in a shallow baking pan; place in oven to melt. When butter is melted, arrange chicken in the baking pan in a single layer. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes; turn and bake 10 minutes longer, or until chicken is tender and done.

While still hot, toss or sprinkle (as generously as you like) with Frank's hot sauce and arrange the pieces on cool, crispy romaine leaves, with celery slices. Frank's brand is perfect for this dish as it's vinegary and not unbearably hot as some are.

I then Sprinkle with big crumbles of my favorite local Blue Cheese.

And drizzled with an excellent commercial Blue Cheese chunky vinaigrette.

I'm not sure how widely this Oregon brand is distributed, the company makes several kinds and it's very good. No preservatives, it's found in the refrigerated section of the market.

And for my fellow dish-disease pals, here's a photo of the dish that the cheese is on:

It is one of a set of 6, each with a different but similar pattern by Williams Sonoma, made in Japan. I acquired these a couple of years ago, so I'm not sure if they are still available but perhaps on the secondary market.

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Several of my terrific followers have commented, or emailed asking how/where in the world I store my collection of dishes/plates/kitchen gear. :) I promise to post a few pictures in the coming days, and thanks for your comments and emails! I really appreciate them.

xo~m.