Lightened-Up Buffalo Chicken Salad

One of my favorite meals out is a buffalo chicken salad from Granite City.  I've never been brave enough to look up the nutrition, but I know it's bad! My mother-in-law saw this recipe on "Cook Yourself Thin" and passed it along to me.  It was wonderful! In my opinion, the highlight was the creamy blue cheese dressing! Since starting weight watchers I've been sticking to vinaigrette dressings to save points, but this dressing is low in points and delicious! Next time I plan to add diced tomatoes and black olives to the salad!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons hot sauce (more if you like hot)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound chicken tenders
1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs or Panko bread crumbs (I used regular bread crumbs)
 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
6 celery stalks, thinly sliced

Dressing Ingredients:
 1 ounce crumbled blue cheese (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons nonfat or low-fat buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper.


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the hot sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt in a shallow dish until well blended. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2. Put the bread crumbs shallow dish. Dredge each chicken tender in the bread crumbs, completely coating both sides. Transfer to the rack of a broiler pan or to a metal rack fitted over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, turning once, until chicken is cooked through and crust is golden brown, about 12 minutes.

3. While the chicken is baking, stir together the cheese, yogurt, buttermilk and pepper. Toss with the lettuce and celery until well coated. Divide the dressed greens and chicken tenders among 4 serving plates and serve immediately.

This recipe serves 4 at 6 weight watchers points per serving.