Boneless Buffalo Strips
By: Active Foodie
Published: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 9:56pm

Ingredients




Gorgonzola Dip

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
1 teaspoon garlic pepper (or your favorite house seasoning)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Buffalo Strips

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
2 tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat panko crumbs
8 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray (olive or canola oil)

1/4 cup Frank’s Red Hot

Preparation

1 Whisk together buttermilk, chili-garlic sauce, Frank’s, buttermilk, vinegar and salt.  Add chicken and marinate overnight. 2 Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray wire rack with cooking spray. 3 Combine panko, flour, paprika, cayenne and salt in a large bowl. 4 Dredge chicken in flour mixture, shake of access and place on wire rack.  Repeat with all chicken  pieces. 5 Spray chicken breasts with cooking spray, making sure to hit all parts of the chicken. 6 Cook for 10 minutes.  Take out, turn chicken pieces over, spray again, and return to oven for another 5 minutes, or until all pieces are golden brown and chicken reaches 155 degrees. 7 Meanwhile, in a small food processor add ingredients for gorgonzola dip.  Process until smooth. 8 When chicken strips are done, with a pastry brush, brush strips with Frank’s Red Hot.  Serve with gorgonzola sauce and carrot and celery sticks.

About


It is the last week of January, which can only mean one thing….the “Big Game” is nearing.  I don’t know about you but for me sports = food.   For Dave, watching football is about, well, watching football.  For me, football is about the food first (shocker) and the football second.   My favorite part of the Super Bowl, besides the commercials of course, is planning the super snacking menu.    Well, this year there is a bit of a twist.  As I have decided to cut out all refined foods, including white white flour and white sugar, it made coming up with a menu slightly more challenging.
One of my all-time favorite bar food snacks is buffalo wings, or boneless buffalo strips.  I just love the crunchy texture, the spicy hot sauce, and the cooling dip.  The perfect finger food.  I wanted to be able to enjoy my favorite bar food for Super Bowl Sunday this year, so I took it upon myself to try and make a version that fit within my dietary restrictions.   With the excitement of a giddy schoolgirl, I told Dave that I knew what I was making for Super Bowl, healthy buffalo strips!  Dave was skeptical at first, looking at me with his eyebrows raised, and forehead crinkled.  “Whole wheat, baked buffalo strips?” he asks.  “I don’t see how that will work” he says with disbelief.   I huff and puff and shake my head, more determined then ever, and respond “you just wait, it’ll work!”
So after a night of marinating the boneless, skinless breasts, and after spending the following afternoon breading and baking, I had a perfectly golden brown boneless buffalo strips!   Now for the sauce, how to get the sauce on the strips.   The problem was the strips were delicate, I couldn’t very well put them in a bowl and toss them, the breading would fall off.  Dave chimes in “how about putting hot sauce in a spray bottle and spraying them?”  Brilliant I thought!  Well, with one spray bottle clogged with hot sauce in the trash, we needed another solution.  Of course, we’ll just brush the hot sauce on…gently. PERFECTION!!  We spent the remaining part of the lazy Sunday afternoon watching the playoffs and polishing off the entire plate of strips you see pictured above!  Dave (and I) just couldn’t get enough!  I had turned a disbeliever into a believer!
CRUNCHY, SPICY, WHOLE WHEAT, BAKED, PERFECT BONELESS BUFFALO STRIPS!!!