Honey Buffalo Chicken Salad

It’s been a WHILE since I’ve posted a recipe here. To be honest the pressure to take stunning photos, write the recipe, write the post and just all the things that go into sharing a recipe overwhelms me often, BUT I’ve missed sharing recipes so much. So….I decided to just take some iphone photos of a recipe I made that we loved and share it here because it makes me happy.

And this one was just too good not to share and I don’t want you to miss out on the goodness.

I’ve deemed this the summer of salads. Don’t get me wrong I’ve eaten my fair share of salads, but a lot of those salads have been lazy and not the most interesting. So, this summer I committed to making interesting salads. Sure, they take a bit more work, but this is the kind of salad that doesn’t feel like a punishment to eat for dinner. Although this Honey Buffalo Chicken Salad is a bit more involved than just throwing vegetables in a bowl it still comes together pretty quick. I’d even venture to say that you could probably convince a non-salad eater to fall in love.

Honey Buffalo Chicken Salad

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

SALAD

• 2/3 Frank's hot sauce

• 1/4 cup honey

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into cubes

• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt

• 6 cups greens of choice, we used Kale

• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced

• 1 cup grilled corn kernels (about 2 ears)

• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese or cubed cheddar

• 6 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

• 1 avocado, chopped

DRESSING

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

• 1/3 cup mayo

• 1/2 cup pickled jalapeños

• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro

• 3 tablespoons fresh basil

• 2 tablespoons fresh dill

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• kosher salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a bowl, mix the hot sauce and honey.

3. Toss together the olive oil, chicken, seasoned salt, and a pinch of pepper. Add 1/4 cup honey buffalo sauce, toss to coat. Spread the chicken out onto a baking sheet.

3. Bake chicken in the oven for 15 minutes and then stir. Coat with another layer of buffalo sauce and bake for 10 minutes longer or until the chicken has a bit of crispiness to it.

4. Meanwhile, make the dressing. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

5. Toss the greens, cilantro, tomatoes, corn, with 1/2 the dressing. Arrange the chicken, cheese, bacon, and avocado on top. Serve with additional dressing and hot sauce.