New Take on Buffalo Chicken & an experiment: Cauliflower Pancakes!

Do you love Buffalo Chicken but hate all the calories and fat associated with it?  I had a friend in college make a version of this about 8 years ago and I have modified it to be even tastier.  You also get a brief work out prepping the chicken!

     New Take on Buffalo Chicken:

     2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

     1/2C Fat Free Catalina Dressing

     1TB Red Hot Minced Cherry Peppers

     2-3 Shakes Red Pepper Sauce

     Salt & Pepper

     1/4C Blue Cheese Crumbles

The first step in this recipe is to pound the chicken down to approx 1/4-1/2” in thickness.  I like to do this using 2 sheets of wax paper with the chicken in between and a meat mallet; I then pound the thick end of the chicken until the breast is a uniform thickness.  Once the chicken is of a uniform thickness I sprinkle with salt and pepper and set to the side.  In a measuring cup mix the Catalina dressing, cherry peppers and red pepper sauce.  This mix will make a moderate heat sauce, you can add or subtract peppers and pepper sauce to meet your own desired spice level.  Evenly brush the sauce on all sides of the chicken and place the chicken on top of a wire cookie rack on top of an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° for approximately 15-20 minutes, approximately 5 minutes before the chicken is finished baking spread 2TB of blue cheese crumbles over each chicken breast and complete baking.  Let sit approximately 2-3 minutes before serving.

Cauliflower Pancakes

A week or so ago I posted Zucchini Pancakes, a few weeks before that I saw a recipe on www.skinnytaste.com for cauliflower fritters and I thought “hey I could probably lighten those up even more and use a recipe similar to the zucchini pancakes” and then the idea for Cauliflower Pancakes was born.  Tonight was my first attempt at them and I would say it was a pretty good success, you still get the great nutty flavor of the cauliflower with an almost quiche like quality of the egg, while the butter helps create a nice crisp on the pancakes.  I may try to make with 1 egg and less flower next time, but they may not hold together well without the additional filler.

     Cauliflower Pancakes:

     1lb Raw Cauliflower

     Salt & Pepper

     2 Eggs

     5-6TB Flour

     1tsp Baking Powder

Rinse the cauliflower then slice into 1/4" sections and place in a steamer basket and steam until the cauliflower is able to be easily broken with a fork.  Remove to a large mixing bowl and break down the cauliflower into small pieces using the back of a fork to “mash”.  Once the cauliflower has stopped steaming, add beaten eggs, salt and pepper and stir to evenly coat, then add remaining ingredients and stir.  Spray a skillet with Pam and add 1tsp of butter to the pan over medium heat.  Once the butter has melted, carefully add the batter to the pan, I used a 1TB scoop to make even size pancakes, you will need to spread the batter out slightly so it is an even thickness.  You will see the batter start to cook from the top side, once it is no longer wet flip the pancake and finish cooking.