If you can’t really cook, do what I do--make this Buffalo Chicken Tender Salad

Yesterday I was telling my sister what a lousy cook I am and how half the time I get it wrong. Not to be outdone, she replied with this (hilarious) email:

From: Shawn
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2015 6:00 PM
To: Doug
Subject: RE: sometimes I get it wrong, sometimes I get it right

I'm just a terrible cook, uninterested, don't want to do it cook. Just today I had to go into town to get rotors (something to do w/brakes) because Michael & Jim are changing the brakes on my car. I told them I'd bring home something for lunch if they could hold out. So after leaving the auto store, Sophia goes "Mom where are you going now?" I say "Giant Eagle". She goes "for what?" "Well, I need to bring something home for lunch". She says "But what can you get in THERE?!" I say "uncooked food that I will then put in a frying pan and make". She says "UGH!" It never occurred to her that I wasn't going to KFC or something.

Now I happen to know Shawn’s a good cook. There hasn’t been a time that I’ve gone to their house & she’s whipped up a spread for 8 people—for the 4-6 people present! As for myself, I am reminded of President Nixon’s famous last words….

However, I DID make a tasty hot salad yesterday which Shawn said looked like “heaven on a plate”! I’m writing it all down here for future reference; I don’t expect to catch lightning in a bottle twice, but YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.

ApacheDug’s Buffalo Chicken Tenders Salad

 

1. Dump 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, a shake of ground red pepper into something like a Ziploc bag. Shake it up good.

2. Drop in 1 lb. chicken tenders, shake that bag again until they’re all coated.

3. Have 2 bowls handy; one with 1 beaten egg, the other has 1 cup breadcrumbs. Dip each flour-coated tender into the egg, then dip it in the breadcrumbs; shake off the excess.

4. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet with Pam Cooking Spray; add on your tenders & bake 15-20 minutes at 400F, turning once during cooking.

5. Here they are, right outta the oven; don’t they look delish? You should eat one right now!

6. In a small saucepan, add 1/3 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce, 1/2 teaspoon Worchester Sauce & 1 tablespoon butter. Heat to a boil, then let simmer 1 minute. Pour over the chicken.

7. I let these cool for a few minutes, then put them in a tupperware container & into the fridge. An hour or so later, I baked some Ore-Ida Country-Style fries in the oven (for 20 minutes at 425F) but halfway thru, I took 2 of these semi-chilled tenders & placed them alongside the fries.

And in those final ten minutes I assembled my ‘salad-plate’ (lettuce mix from a bag), grape tomatoes, banana pepper rings, & a chopped hard-boiled egg. Those fries & tenders went right on top. (I sprinkled on a little sharp cheddar cheese to pretty things up.)

Oh, you should have a little dish of Bleu Cheese or Ranch dressing on the side to do some fork-dippin’—man, it was good!