Plant-based Buffalo Chicken Salad
| Serves | 4 |
|---|---|
| Menu Part | Salad |
Chef Mason Hereford
Turkey and The Wolf
New Orleans
Chef Mason Hereford of Turkey and The Wolf in New Orleans swaps in plant-based chicken tenders for the traditional poultry version to create this salad. Bottled Buffalo wing sauce makes it easy to get the characteristic flavor, while house-pickled celery, apples and blue cheese provide the right taste and texture counterpoints.
Ingredients
Pickled celery
⅓ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
⅓ cup sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
Buffalo chicken salad
Vegetable oil for frying
16 frozen plant-based chicken tenders
Kosher salt, to taste
Chopped or torn romaine or bibb lettuce
¼ cup Buffalo wing sauce or hot sauce
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
1 small apple, diced
1 cup candied walnuts
¼ cup thinly sliced chives
Steps
1. For pickled celery, combine rice vinegar, sugar, salt and ⅓ cup of water in saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Pour boiling liquid over celery in medium bowl; let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. For tenders, heat vegetable oil in deep fryer to 360 F. Deep fry frozen tenders for 4 minutes, gently shaking basket once while cooking. For safety, product must be cooked from frozen to an internal temperature of 165 F, measured by a thermometer in two places.
3. Remove tenders from fryer; season with salt. To serve, arrange a bed of lettuce in shallow bowls or individual plates. Place four tenders on each plate and garnish with Buffalo wing sauce, blue cheese, pickled celery, diced apples, candied walnuts and chives.
Photo courtesy of Incogmeato by MorningStar Farms