easy weekday salad

Ingredients

Dressing:
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. whole grain mustard
1/8 tsp Kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Salad Fixings:
Lettuce: Boston lettuce or mixed baby greens work well
1 carrot, shaved using a vegetable peeler
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced or grate using the largest setting on a box grater
1/4 cup soft cheese, goat or blue work well
1/4 cup nuts, walnuts or almonds work well
anything else in your fridge you need to get rid of! (we've tried corn, blanched green beans, green onions, and beets before- yum!)

Instructions

1. Whisk together the olive oil and the vinegar. Add the mustard, salt, and pepper and whisk vigorously until emulsified.
2. Add the carrot, onion, nuts, etc. and combine with dressing. At the last minute, mix the greens in.

buffalo chicken salad

If you like buffalo chicken salads, but are weary of all the calories, try this healhier version. Instead of fried chicken, I bake the chicken with panko crumbs. The salad dressing recipe is from the America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, they revamped the otherwise calorie loaded creamy dressing. Give it a try you won't notice the missing calories- lots of flavor!

Ingredients

For the dressing:
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
2 tbsp. water
2 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper

For the salad:
2 chicken breasts, cut into tender-sized pieces
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
dash of milk
2 cups panko crumbs
Franks hot sauce
lettuce, romaine or mixed greens works
4 celery sticks, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 package of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 English cucumber, diced
blue cheese, for serving

Instructions

For the dressing:
1. Mash the blue cheese and buttermilk together with a fork in a bowl until the mixture resembles cottage cheese with small curds. Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined.

For the salad:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Set up to batter the chicken. Pour panko crumbs and flour on separate plates. Beat the egg in a medium sized bowl and add a dash of milk. Take 1 chicken tender and dredge in flour, shake off excess flour. Coat in egg mixture, shake off excess egg. Then coat with panko. Place on half sheet fit with a cooling rack. Repeat the battering process with all the pieces of chicken. Cook in the oven until chicken is done, about 10-15 minutes (internal temperature should be 160), the chicken will be crispy on the outside and slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
3. Assemble your salad. Toss together the lettuce, onion, celery, carrots, cucumber and tomatoes.
4. When the chicken has cooled, place 1 tender at a time in a medium sized bowl. Pour hot sauce over the chicken. Using kitchen tongs turn the tender until it is completely coated with hot sauce. Repeat this process with all other pieces.
5. Finish the salad with the buffalo chicken pieces and homemade dressing. Top with extra blue cheese.

buffalo chicken panini

Ingredients

1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce

2 lbs. chicken breast tenders

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

8 slices sourdough bread

Toppings:

red onion, sliced

tomato, sliced

romaine lettuce

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Combine 2 tbsp. hot sauce and chicken in a medium bowl, tossing to coat.

3. Arrange chicken in a single layer on a broiler pan; broil 4 minutes on each side or until done. Place chicken in a bowl; toss with remaining 2 tbsp. sauce.

4. Preheat panini grill.

5. Combine cheese and mayonnaise. Spread cheese mixture on each of the 4 bread slices; top each with one-fourth of the cooked chicken and 1 bread slice. Grill in panini maker.

6. Serve with a thick slice of fresh tomato, romaine lettuce, and red onion slices.

*Adapted from Cooking Light

blue-rugula burgers

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 lb. ground sirloin
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
handful of breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. blue cheese, thinly sliced
crusty rolls, lightly toasted
2 handfuls of arugula leaves
spicy brown mustard

Instructions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, brown sugar and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook until caramelized and sweet, about 40 minutes.
2. Combine meat with garlic, Worcestershire, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Form 2-3 patties.
3. Grill burgers. In the last minute of cooking time, top burgers with a few slices of blue cheese.
4. Place burgers on bun bottoms and top with arugula and caramelized onions. Spread spicy brown mustard on the top bun.

*Adapted from Rachel Ray

beet, pear, and walnut salad

Ingredients

For the Dressing:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. finely minced shallots
2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt

For the Salad:
4 small cooked beets
10 cups mixed salad greens
1 pear, sliced

3 tbsp. coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
crumbled blue or Gorgonzola cheese
1 tbsp. chopped fresh chives

Instructions

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 5 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. I like to use my Cuisinart Smart Stick chopper attachment to make salad dressing- so easy!
2. Place salad greens on a large platter. Top with sliced beets, walnuts, pear, cheese, and chives.
3. Serve with dressing on the side.

*adapted from Cooking Light