Bar Food Without the Bar

So, right. There’s totally a bun in my oven.

It’s a boy bun, which my already rockin’ mother’s intuition told me from the first weeks of being knocked up. (Between The Husband, The Jersey Girl’s Poppa and The Jersey Girl’s Fabulous Mother-in-Law, this kid will totally own every piece of baby Phillies gear that has ever been put on the market. No need to thank me, MLB.)

According to legend, a woman with child craves ice cream and pickles. But, you see dear readers, this Jersey Girl Soon to Be Jersey Momma was a bit of a barfly in her day, and well sometimes a gal needs a little pub fare while memories of Stohli Vanilla and ginger ale dance in her head.

So, I bring to you my Buffalo Chicken Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing.

Salad?!? In a bar?!? You trippin’.

Listen, kids. There’s a reason the Jersey Girl has been a petite kinda gal her whole life: She tries to make wise food choices. Sure, my stomach was most likely sending subliminal messages of hot wings to the brain, but my brain fought back and said, “How about some chicken tenders in a yum yum wing sauce over a salad?”

And, my brain won. But, my stomach was happy.

Interestingly, my pregnancy diet consists of crazy amounts of fruit and vegetables. I actually crave blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, peaches, salad and on and on. I shared this with one of my friends recently, and she thought I was totally loco.

Yes, many formerly pregnant broads tell me how they would eat a whole pizza in one sitting, tubs of ice cream every night, a pound of pasta all at once. But, eating big does not work out for me very well. In the end, feelings of nausea, disgustingness, sloth and guilt overcome the Jersey Girl. And then The Husband deals with my moaning and whimpering and depression. And plus, I so do not want to gain 100 pounds in nine months.

Now, don’t get me wrong, my whole day involves frequent eating and drinking gallons of water. It’s exhausting, actually. But making wise food choices most of the time is working for me. And then, when I eat a bowl of homemade ice cream or a Godiva truffle at the end of the day I don’t feel bad at all. I just feel blessed that there’s a little guy in my belly, who’s been kicking like crazy the past few days. Yay!

Buffalo Chicken Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
(Makes about four servings)

For the salad:
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
¼ red onion, chopped, (optional)

Place all ingredients in a salad bowl.

Top with Blue Cheese Dressing (recipe below).

Very Manly Blue Cheese Dressing
5 ounces of crumbled blue cheese
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. scallion greens or chives, finely chopped
¼ tsp. black pepper
Pinch of salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients on medium speed until well combined. The dressing should be thick and very blue cheesy.

For the chicken tenders:

1 pound chicken tenders
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. salt
2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1/3 cup favorite wing sauce
2 Tbsp. butter

In a wide bowl, place flour, pepper, salt and Cajun seasoning. Mix together with a whisk or fork.

Place each chicken tender in the flour mixture. Toss until coated.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Once skillet is hot, place chicken tenders in sizzling butter. Brown on all sides, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Once chicken is brown, pour in wing sauce. Cook for about 2 to 3 more minutes, until sauce coats the chicken and is heated through. Remove from heat.

To assemble salad platters:

Place salad mixture on dinner plates. Top with two or three chicken tenders. Dollop with Blue Cheese Dressing.