Earlier this summer I made what I thought was just a dinner salad which turned out to be my new favorite dinner salad of all time and it was literally all I could talk about at the over the next few weeks. Non-stop. Unbearably. I didn’t even wait to ask you if you like buffalo wings (of course you are), cobb salads (you might be, I can just say) or looking for a dinner idea. It’s not who I am.
Perhaps even less surprising was to realize that I had very strong opinions on how to adapt the idea of buffalo wings to things that aren’t buffalo wings, which means I’m on the point of breaking down my favorite parts of it all:
* Lightness : I find the buffalo wings to be as light as fried chicken wings dipped in a tangy butter sauce, then dipped again in blue cheese ranch dressing. This is because they are not breaded; the crispiness comes from the skin itself. For the purposes of this salad, you can definitely use a crispy breaded chicken cutlet if desired, however, I was completely satisfied with the grilled chicken thighs.
* The two-iron dressing room: Buffalo sauce is a buttery hot sauce mix that is piercing and thin. The creamy dressing resembles a ranch and is thicker. For me, the interplay of these two textures and flavors is paramount, so this salad needed to have two “dressings” rather than just mixing them together.
* Blue cheese without blue cheese: I adore Bleu cheese sauce but my weird view is that I prefer blue cheese out of the dressing. Otherwise, I end up having an experience of eating the whole pint of ice cream just to dig out the cookie dough nuggets, which I emphasize is universal. Sprinkling blue cheese allows every bite to have some without smothering everything in more dressing than I crave.
* Everything else: Carrots and celery are essential for buffalo wings, in my opinion, not just for garnish. From there I added more large veggies – cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, diced red onions – which work well with these flavors and just enough leafy greens to fill it out.
* Salad bar style: I serve it all unassembled, because it allows everyone at the table to compose their salad with the balance of ingredients of their dreams, including those who don’t want chicken or blue cheese (more for me!), or even buffalo sauce. Plus, leftovers keep beautifully — dressings in their own jars, lettuce in a bag, veggies in a container — since they’re not tossed together.
Am I… overthinking these things a bit or am I quite obsessed? I hope you will try it and find out.
Previously
6 months ago: Pasta with broccoli cooked longer
1 year ago: Butter noodles for Frances
2 years ago: Deviled eggs
3 years ago: Pasta with Pesto Genovese
4 years ago: Iced Watermelon Mojitos
5 years ago: Corn fritters And Bourbon Peach Smash
6 years ago: Hummus filled with tomatoes and cucumbers
He is 7 years old: Corn, Bacon and Parmesan Pasta
8 years ago: Fried Tomato and Provolone Sandwich
9 years ago: Easiest Fridge Dill Pickles And Grilled Peach Splits
1 year ago: Tomato Skillet Farro And Hot Fudge Sundae Cake
11 years ago: Corn hash with bacon
12 years ago: Raspberry Ricotta Whole Wheat Scones
13 years ago: Mango Salad with Cashews and Mint, Thai Chicken Thighs, Peach and blueberry cobblerAnd Tomato gratin with croutons
14 years ago: Light Buns Burger Buns, Blueberry Boy BaitAnd Lemon pizza with goat cheese and zucchini
15 years ago: Chocolate sorbet
16 years ago: Double Chocolate Layer Cake
