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Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Homemade Low Calorie Blue Cheese Dressing

August 18th, 2007 · 1 Comment

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These buffalo chicken tenders are a fast and fantastic appetizer, lunch, or easy dinner. They also make great party food for a sporting event, movie night, or casual get together. The real shining star of this recipe though, is the incredible blue cheese dressing. It is creamy, delicious and full of flavor – and it can also be used as a sandwich spread or salad dressing, as well as a dipping sauce. With a few tricks and simple substitutions, you can still indulge in those “bar-food” style favorites without having to deal with the greasy, fried, or fatty mess!

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenders (or about 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into strips)

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper hot sauce, or other hot sauce (you can add more or less depending on how spicy you would like the tenders)

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 large stalks or celery, sliced (to serve with the tenders and dressing)

low fat blue cheese dressing (recipe below)*

*I recommend making the dressing first since the chicken cooks very quickly*

Preheat the broiler (or preheat the oven to 375 degrees if that is your preferred cooking method).

In a large bowl combine the hot sauce and the oil; add the chicken and toss until it is well coated. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and broil until it is cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes, turning once (you could also bake it in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes).

To make the Blue Cheese Dressing:
2 tablespoons fat free mayonnaise

1/4 cup fat free (or lowfat) buttermilk

1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Fold a full sheet of a paper towel into quarters and put it into a small bowl. Spoon the yogurt onto the paper towel and place it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to drain and thicken.

After the 20 minutes, whisk the buttermilk and thickened yogurt into the mayonnaise in a medium sized bowl until smooth. Add the vinegar and sugar and continue to whisk until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the crumbled blue cheese and season, to taste, with the salt and pepper.

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Makes 4 servings (about 6 tenders and 1/6 dressing per person). Per Serving: 242 calories, 7 g total fat, less than 2 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 9 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, less than 2 g sugar, 31 g protein, 218 mg sodium, 88 mg cholesterol.

Tags: Appetizer · Chicken · Dinner · Lunch