Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Buffalo Chicken Salad

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Buffalo Chicken Salad

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I made you a present.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Whenever I’m coming out of a self imposed sugar coma, I always want flavors that a bold, flavorful and spicy. My palet gets used to too much sugary goodness, and I need equally strong and delicious flavors to combat my cravings. And if I don’t have to put too much effort in, well, that’s just an added bonus. 😉

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Have I shared my undying love of buffalo sauce? It’s on my menu scanning list. Please tell me you have one of those too? You know, you sit down at a new restaurant, open the menu, and scan for your favorites which, if you’re me, include goat cheese, avocado, roasted red peppers, bleu cheese, cilantro, and buffalo sauce. Two menu scanners in one recipe. Also, fresh crumbled blue cheese would be AWESOME on this when served, especially if you make it into a sandwich.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

But let’s be honest. This only actually ever made it to sandwich form for this photo. The rest of the time it was lucky if it made it onto a plate, and wasn’t eaten straight out of the container. What can I say? I’m kind of a gross human. And I’m lazy, but I swear I have lots of redeeming qualities. I do really great impersonations.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

And I make chicken salad. Chicken salad that is bold and spicy without being overpowering. It breaks all the chicken salad rules using no mayo and fresh, fall-off-the-bone rotisserie chicken combined with zesty ranch seasonings, crisp celery, and fresh cilantro. You will love how quickly and easily this meal comes together. It is perfect for make ahead lunches, or serving a large group. It is the ultimate taste-good-feel-good kinda meal. Just the way I like it!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

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Buffalo Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 6-8

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Healthy, bold and spicy buffalo chicken salad with no mayo. A super addicting and easy make ahead lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2/3 cup buffalo sauce (I recommend Frank's Red Hot)
  • pinch freshly ground pepper
  • 1-2 tsp ranch seasoning
  • 1-2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
  • meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed
  • 1 cup chopped celery

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, buffalo sauce, pepper, ranch seasoning and cilantro. Set aside. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl, and lightly toss. Stir in dressing until well combined. Eat immediately, or store in refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Notes

**Note: I would call this a medium on the spice level. If you'd like to make it more/less spicy, just adjust the yogurt/buffalo sauce ratio.

https://arismenu.com/buffalo-chicken-salad/

Cranberry Apple Chicken Salad

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I have this skill. I’d be happy to share it with you if you ever need help with this, but I am the master at over scheduling myself. Want to fit the MOST amount of things in one day with only time for rushed travel in between? I’m your gal.

In the month of September, I started racking up quite the food bill with my Subway/Chipotle/Einstein’s stops. I also started racking up quite the…um, waistline. I was sitting a good 4 lbs above my normal weight, which isn’t a huge deal (don’t judge that I notice these things!), but my body has a set weight for the time being where it feels happy and healthy, and all of the quick food stops were not helping me maintain it.

Regardless of how healthy the places/items are that I choose, nothing ever feels as great as when I make my own meals. Not to mention those many bags of sun chips that I can get with my Subway sandwich full of empty calorie deliciousness….

Anyway, suffice it to say, I wasn’t feeling great, and I knew it was time to get back on track. Something that works really well for me with my constantly on the go lifestyle, is to prep a lot of a food I like that I can bring for lunch/dinner for the rest of the week. I pick a day when I have some extra time, and puy it all together, then it usually lasts me a good week.

That might sound boring, but if I make something I really love, I am usually excited to eat it until about the point I start to run out. Usually by the last time I am ready to move on to some new food, but it is SO helpful to always have a delicious healthy meal sitting in my fridge that I can grab and take with me whenever I need to.

This chicken salad is packed with protein! It has the perfect combinations of flavors and textures–sweet and salty, soft and crunchy. It’s been a go to of mine for the last year, and is still one of my favorites!

 

Cranberry Apple Chicken Salad

yield 6-8 servings

  • 2/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbs dijon mustard
  • pinch freshly ground pepper
  • 1-2 tbs finely minced rosemary
  • meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed
  • 2/3 cup chopped celery
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 large gala apple, chopped
  • 1 tbs slivered almonds

Directions:

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, mustard, pepper and rosemary. Set aside.
  2. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl, and lightly toss. Stir in dressing until well combined.
  3. Eat immediately, or store in refrigerator for up to 7 days.

**Note: To eat the chicken salad, you are not limited to sandwiches! Usually I crumble some brown rice cakes on mine or eat it with whole grain crackers. If taking it to go, package bread products separately until ready to eat.

 

Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

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I am such a sucker for anything with buffalo sauce.

I guess I am just a person who loves strong flavors. Spicy food, sharp cheeses, anything really with bold flavors. I do not like plain pasta with olive oil. I am easily bored in life and food, so I need flavors that do a little performance for my taste buds. Is that weird?

Wait. Don’t answer that. I already know I’m weird. Anyway, I’ve never made meatloaf with chicken before. In fact, I’ve never even used ground chicken until now. It’s pretty awesome, and opens up a lot of flavor combinations! You know I love my ground turkey, but who ever heard of buffalo turkey? That doesn’t sound nearly as cool.

I made kale with it. I’m sure you’re shocked.

This meatloaf was full of bold buffalo flavor, and was different than any type I’ve ever tasted! I wonder just how many more foods I can put buffalo sauce in? 😉

Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

yield 5 servings

  • 1 1/4 lb lean ground chicken
  • 1/2 cup egg substitute
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 cup buffalo sauce
  • 2/3 cup raw oats
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • generous pinch ground pepper

For the buffalo ranch sauce:

  • 2/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
  • 2 tsp ranch seasoning

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a medium loaf pan with tin foil, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg substitute, almond milk, buffalo sauce, and pepper. Mix in onion and oats.
  3. Add meat **this is the fun part!!** and use your hands to thoroughly combine.
  4. Transfer meet to prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, until cooked throughout.
  5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients.
  6. Serve meatloaf topped with buffalo ranch sauce.

Skinnified Sunday: Chicken & Waffles

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Oh, yes I did.

So, I had never even heard of eating chicken and waffles together, until my friend Ryan mentioned it a couple of years ago. I told him that was gross and that I would never ever eat that.

I’m a big fat liar. So as punishment, I washed my mouth out with huge forkfulls of chicken and waffles. Fair enough.

You know what? It really is freaking delicious. Somewhere along the lines of all my hating on the concept, I got intrigued. Kind of like how I developed my love for Justin Beiber. Yes, I love the Beibs. I understand if that makes you want to never come back, but I just can’t deny it! I’m not too worried though, I will keep you here with waffles. Chicken & Waffle.

Have I mentioned how much I lllooooovvvveeee sweet and savory combos? Almost as much as my love for sweet and salty. Sweet and spicy is good too. Basically I have the world’s biggest sweet tooth, and if I could make all my meals taste like dessert, I absolutely would.

And that, my friends, is why I give you these delicious, sweet, crispy on the outside, soft and cake-like on the inside waffles, topped with crispy faux fried chicken, and sweet maple syrup. AZ peeps, you don’t even have to go to LoLo’s!

Waffle recipe adapted from Bon Appetit. The chicken is just my version of “fried” chicken.

Original waffle recipe:

  • 2 cups peeled, 1/2″ cubes red-skinned sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated peeled ginger
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 6 large egg whites, room temperature
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
My Swaps:
  • 1/2 recipe
  • Reduced fat buttermilk and unsweetened vanilla almond milk for whole milk (-fat, -calories)
  • Egg substitute for egg yolks (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Sugar free maple syrup for some of the brown sugar (-sugar, -calories)
  • Butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat) <–usually I would replace with applesauce or yogurt, but I accidentally just completely missed that part while cooking it, and didn’t realize it until it came time to write up the recipe! Obviously was not super vital to the dish 🙂
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose (+fiber, +protein)
  • Pumpkin pie spice for ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg (+ease)
  • Added vanilla extract (+yum)
  • 1 (4 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour for coating
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
My Swaps:
  • Chicken breast for whole chicken (-fat, -calories)
  • reduced fat buttermilk + egg whites for buttermilk (-fat, -calories)
  • Crushed cornflakes and panko for flour (+cruch, +yum)
  • vegetable oil (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat) <– 2 quarts?!?!?!

Skinnified Chicken & Waffles

yield 4-6 servings

For the waffles:

  • 1 medium sweet potato, roasted
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup egg substitute
  • 1 tbs light brown sugar
  • 1 tbs sugar free maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tbs whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 tbs baking powder
  • dash salt
  • 3 large egg whites, room temperature

For the chicken:

  • 3 chicken breasts, approx 8 oz each
  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup crushed cornflake crumbs
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

Directions:

  1. Pierce sweet potato several times with a fork, and roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white and buttermilk (for the chicken) together and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine cornflake crumbs and panko.
  4. Place a wire cooling rack inside of a large baking sheet. Spray thoroughly with nonstick spray.
  5. Take chicken breasts one at a time through egg white/buttermilk wash, then coat with cornflake/panko combo, then transfer to prepared wire rack.
  6. When sweet potato has finished cooking, reduce oven heat to 375, and bake chicken for 40-45 minutes, until juices run clean.
  7. Meanwhile, peel sweet potato and remove of skin (or eat the skin, because it’s delicious). Transfer skinned sweet potato to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer for 1-2 minutes.
  8. Beat in milks, eggs substitutebrown sugar, syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, then beat dry ingredients into wet.
  9. In a medium bowl (yes, I was using pretty much every single mixing bowl in my house for this one), beat room temperature egg whites until stiff peaks form. You will need your beater/mixer on the highest setting, and it takes longer than you think.
  10. Fold in half of beaten egg whites to waffle batter. Then slowly fold in remaining half in two batches until just combined.
  11. Let the batter sit until the chicken is almost ready to come out of the oven. Then transfer batter in increments (depending on the size of your waffle iron–I generally use 1/2-2/3 cup per waffle) onto sprayed waffle iron. Cooking time will depend on the iron. Mine has a little light that goes off when they’re cooked.
  12. Transfer waffle to serving plate, top with 1/2 cooked chicken breast, and add light butter and syrup if desired.

Buttermilk Cornbread Crusted Chicken Tenders

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Friends, here is the deal–I have eaten my fair share of fried chicken in my day. I used to be on a diet of fast food, chicken nuggets and french fries. With tons of ranch. It was delicious. So yeah, I’ve had enough fried foods to last a life time, so unless it’s a sweet potato fry, I really try my best to steer clear these days. At least I lived it up in my teenage years, right?

Well one thing I love about fried chicken is that it’s super easy to recreate in a healthy way. I feel you can make almost any food healthy, but some are definitely more challenging, and not the same as the original when it comes down to it. Has anyone mastered creme brulee? If so, we should become BFFs because I’d like to eat healthy creme brulee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of my life. With calorie free ice cream for dessert. Let’s get to work on this people! Until then, I will get excited about other foods that usually cause heart attacks, but don’t when I make them. Like Buttermilk Cornbread Crusted Chicken Tenders.

Holy crispy chicken goodness! And you know what’s a million times better for you, and even better tasting than globs of ranch dressing? This maple mustard dipping sauce. I’ve started using this stuff on eeeevvvveerryything…salad, chicken, my spoon…

All served up with some delicious crispy kale chips. This dinner was a total hit! Last night was actually the second time I made it. I did a lot of really good cooking while Steve was away (guess I was trying to keep myself busy?) so now I’m trying to recreate it, so I can make him spend many laborious hours photographing it he can taste it too.

Buttermilk Cornbread Crusted Chicken Tenders

yield 10 servings

  • 1 1/2 cups cornbread mix (use gluten-free is applicable)
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/3 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 3 lbs chicken breast
  • garlic pepper to taste

Yes. That’s seriously all you need. I love recipes like that!

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Place a cooling rack inside a large baking sheet, then cover with aluminum foil (optional), and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Measure cornbread mix into a large bowl for coating.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites and buttermilk together. Add garlic pepper.
  3. Slice chicken into strips.
  4. Dip chicken into egg white/buttermilk mixture, then coat with cornbread mix and lay onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all chicken tenders.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake for an addition 15. Then broil for an additional 2 minutes to get a little extra crispiness.
  6. Let stand for 2 minutes then serve with Maple Mustard Sauce.

Maple Mustard Sauce

yield approx 10 servings

  • 1 1/2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs spicy brown mustard
  • 1/2 tbs yellow mustard
  • 3 tbs sugar free maple syrup
  • garlic pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Whisk all ingredients together, then serve as a dipping sauce or dressing!

Apple, Goat Cheese and Fig Stuffed Chicken

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I did it! I made up a dish. I didn’t look at anyone else’s recipe for inspiration (although I’m sure there are a million recipes out there like this one). I just thought about things I liked and put it together and it was so delicious! This dish is perfect for when you’re busy around the holidays and have been living entirely off cookies because there’s not a ton of prep time, it’s healthy and it looks much fancier than it actually is!

Apple, Goat Cheese and Fig Stuffed Chicken

yield 4 servings

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts approx 6oz each
  • 2 oz goat cheese
  • 1/2 apple, thinly sliced (I used the amazingly delicious honey crisp, but any apple will be good!)
  • 4 tbs fig butter
  • olive oil
  • freshly ground sea salt
  • freshly ground garlic pepper (I bought it at Whole Foods and it is so amazing!)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
  2. Season chicken with salt and garlic pepper on both sides.
  3. Butterfly the chicken, and stuff with 1/2 oz goat cheese, 2 apple slices and 1 tbs fig butter. Fold chicken back over.
  4. Heat a pan on medium high and drizzle with a little olive oil (just enough to avoid sticking).
  5. Sear chicken about 2-3 minutes on each side, then transfer to baking dish.
  6. Baker for 40-50 minutes until cooked throughout and juices run clear. Let chicken rest out of oven about 2-3 minutes.

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