ArcaMax

When microwave ovens were a new “thing” I remember being invited to a dinner party.

It was an informal party. It was one of those where everyone stood around talking in the hostess’ kitchen. No one was dressed up. It was a weeknight affair.

The thing I remember most was observing the hostess as she prepared dinner.

She was using her new microwave a lot.

In fact, she cooked everything in the microwave. She was quite proud of not turning on her oven. She did all the cooking in the microwave and then displayed it on the counter.

All of it was not only heated in the microwave but the container each item was in was the vessel the item was cooked in.

All those items were cooked in plastic.

When dinner was ready no one even flinched at the thought of scooping their dinner items out of plastic that had been in the microwave. Those were the days when plastic was also a big deal and we took full advantage of it.

We had no clue. Innocence can be so comforting...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Hot Wing Dip

Most folks think of chicken wings as being a guy thing and even a sport fan thing but anyone can love this dip! I served it as a breakfast buffet item and it was hands down the dish that got the most comments and compliments. I think it was because it was so unexpected. The comments came from men and women alike but I must admit the guys were the ones who went gaga over this.

You can make a half order of this if you are serving a small group.

You can also prep this dish in advance and take it to someone else’s house to bake. Just leave the cheddar off until you are about to put it in the oven. Take it as a hosting gift!

This is a whole lot less messy than eating chicken wings without losing the pleasure.

When eating low carb and eating a dish like this, serve it with celery sticks and use the celery to scoop and eat.

Or, you can serve it with chips. Spoon your portion onto a plate and eat it by using the same chip over and over. Maybe you eat the chip every 4th scoop or something like that. Or if you’re like me you eat the first three chips and then switch to eating it with a fork. Never missed the chips.

Servings: 21 prunes, feeds approximately 10 people

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces (halves) (Or use a rotisserie chicken)
1 tsp of olive oil
1 Tbl of butter or ghee
2 large stalks of celery cut into dice
1 cup of diced onion
2 packages (8 oz) each of cream cheese. Use the full-fat version. Cut the cheese into small chunks.
1-1/2 cups of blue cheese dressing (find a high-quality one with large chunks or even add separate blue cheese chunks as another option)
1 cup of high-quality ranch dressing
½ cup of hot sauce. You can use your favorite hot sauce but you can also watch for brands that are designed for making hot wings. They will say “hot wing sauce” on the label. Frank’s is the most popular one in the US. The color is a brighter orange than some hot sauces and of course, all hot sauces vary in heat (spice) so you can start with less and taste test and work your way up.
12 oz of shredded cheddar
Taco chips, crackers and/or celery sticks for dippers (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large sauté pan you will poach your chicken. Just put the chicken in a pan and cover it with water. Cook on a low boil for 15 minutes or until there’s no pink remaining in the chicken. I flip them half way through to make sure they get fully cooked. Then you are going to take them out of the water and let them cool down a bit. Just pour the water out of the pan and wipe it down. You can use it again.

Then put in the oil and the butter with the onion and celery. Sauté on medium just until the celery and onion begin to wilt. You don’t have to cook them until they are mushy. Transfer them to a greased 9-by-13-inch inch heatproof pan.

Now it’s time to shred your chicken. Just hold one of the breasts down on a cutting board with a fork. Take the other fork and pull at the chicken to shred it. For this dish you want a pretty fine shred so sometimes you want to go back and pull the chunks apart so you get a good shred on all of the meat. Do this with all three chicken breast pieces and then transfer all of the shredded chicken to the 9-by-13-inch pan.

In a blender add the ranch dressing and the cream cheese. Blend until fairly smooth. Then add the blue cheese dressing and the hot sauce. Blend just until combined. You still want some chunks left. Taste and see if you want to add some more hot sauce. Transfer this dressing to the 9-by-13-inch inch pan and stir to combine all of the ingredients. If you are going for even more blue cheese flavor and are using separate chunks of blue cheese add that now and stir a bit more.

Cover the whole top with the grated cheddar.

Bake in your oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. It will come out very bubbly. Be careful not to burn yourself as you begin to eat it. You can serve this with chips, crackers or even celery sticks as scoops. You can also serve this with a bottle of hot sauce on the side for those that like to sprinkle more on and get the flamethrower effect.

If you have leftovers store them in the refrigerator. Reheat slowly or the cheese can separate and become oily. Still tastes good, but doesn’t look as creamy great.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola