In all my years of cooking chicken I have never gone the buffalo route. I know, can you believe it?!! Partly my kids' dislike of anything new and their sensitive little tastebuds (and if we're being perfectly honest, then mine too) are to blame and partly it's just...I don't know, I'm too tired to come up with another excuse--it was a long weekend of hockey--just suffice it to say that until now I have never made the buffalo but now I can't imagine life without the buffalo which means I will be making the buffalo over and over to make up for the lack of buffalo. Have I mentioned these are buffalo chicken strips?!!! Ok, no more buffalo!!

And I'm sorry but I have to mention the unmentionable word just one more time because I'm now remembering that the reason I was so willing to try this buffalo chicken recipe was from a trip we took to Buffalo a few months ago (of course it was for hockey--duh, it's us!) in which we ate the most deliciously addictive wings from the aforementioned city. I'd like to recreate those one day too but the fact that they're fried turns me off from both a health and grease-filled kitchen reason, and this grilled, skinless version is a pretty good substitute.

So good that it only took about 5 minutes for my family to gobble down the platter along with this delightfully dunk-worthy buttermilk ranch dip I shared a while back. I don't know whether to be flattered or embarrassed by their table manners!

But let's not dwell on my lack of parenting skills and instead focus on these easy to prepare, tender, spicy, but not fire-out-of-the-ears chicken strips that hail from that cold snowy place up north that I promise not to mention again for a long time. Whip them up for an easy dinner tonight and your eaters will start "shuffling off to you-know-where" too!

Grilled Buffalo Chicken Strips

Makes 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the buffalo sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Frank's)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1-2 shakes of cayenne pepper (use more if you like things very spicy)
1 teaspoon paprika

For the chicken

1 1/2-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips on the diagonal
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 recipe of this Easy Buttermilk Ranch Dip
Carrots and celery cut into strips for on the side (optional)

The Recipe

1. To make the buffalo sauce: Whisk the butter, oil, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and paprika together in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the bowl of the sauce. Coat the chicken thoroughly and let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare a hot fire on the grill. While the chicken is marinating and the grill is heating you can prepare the buttermilk ranch dip or even make it a day ahead if possible.

3. When ready to grill, brush the grates with a little olive oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking. Grill the chicken for a few minutes until there are nice grill marks. Then use tongs to turn the pieces over and grill the other sides until the chicken is entirely cooked through. Remove from the grill and serve immediately with the ranch dip and cut up carrots and celery.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster. I tweaked proportions and some of the ingredients here. This is one of those dishes you can totally make your own.