September 9, 2015

American Buffalo Chicken Salad

Meg carefully dissected Steve’s curated spending note books from his college days last week (click here to read if you missed it) which leads us to this months theme – recipes designed with a $20 budget in mind to suit college students and families cooking for friends.

On a road trip earlier this summer, I was surprised when my 8 year old ordered Buffalo Chicken Soup from the menu at the Parish Public House in Albany, New York. Never having got beyond the “Buffalo” part of Buffalo Chicken on any menu, (in my defense I was unaware that it referred to the town rather than the animal of the same name) her choice led to an epiphany moment. Buffalo Chicken originates from Buffalo, New York, or so the stories go.

The soup was very comforting on one level and extravagantly calorific on another. It was in the same league consistency wise as those hot dips I consider wholly American (crab, artichoke, onion.) It was thick, rich, creamy and spicy. I did not resist devouring the remnants of her bowl. Hot sauce and blue cheese work, somehow.

Preparing the sauce is very simply hot sauce, a small amount of melted butter and garlic powder. The first time I made this in my slow cooker, the sauce came out too thin so we added and corn starch as a thickener. This makes a sticky sauce which adheres to the chicken.

In the last vestiges of summer we made it a salad with chicken breast served over fresh leaves and blue cheese coleslaw. It is easily adapted to use chicken thighs and served on toasted rolls with coleslaw. We’ve included the costs of the ingredients for serving 6 people.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 4 hours on LOW or 2 hours on HIGH

Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 3/4 lbs chicken breast (organic $12) (or boneless chicken thighs $8)
2 tsp garlic powder ($0.10)
1/2 cup hot sauce ($1.00)
1 tbsp melted butter ($0.15)
2 tsp cornflour ($0.05)
1 bag coleslaw ($2.49)
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing ($1.50)
1 large romaine lettuce, chopped ($1.50)
1/2 red onion, sliced ($0.50)

TOTAL COST $19.29

Lay the chicken breast or thighs in your slow cooker.

In a cup or bowl, mix the garlic, hot sauce, melted butter, and cornflour.

Pour over the chicken to coat. Cover and turn to LOW for 4 hours / HIGH for 2 hours if using chicken breast. If using chicken thighs turn to LOW for 6 hours / HIGH for 3 hours.

Once cooked, shred the chicken using two forks and serve over the lettuce, onion and coleslaw mixed with blue cheese dressing. Drizzle with the sauce.