On Lowering Your Standards

It must be done sometimes, dear readers.

Like when you hate both teams in the Super Bowl, but you sort of have to watch because it’s the Super Bowl.

Or when you eat.

*If you’re wondering why that hand appears to have more fingers than is humanly possible, it’s because my husband got tired of waiting for me to take pictures of my food before he could eat it.  So there are two hands going at it at once.

Because life can’t always be about fancy dinners and snooty cookies.

Sometimes good recipes come from the back of the box.  Or the soup can label.  Or the bottle of hot sauce.  Frank’s Hot Sauce.  Which introduced the world to buffalo chicken dip.

A Glass of Milk’s Youngest Reader introduced buffalo chicken dip to me.  Here’s what you need to know:  I don’t like buffalo chicken anything.  I don’t like any of the ingredients that go into buffalo chicken anything, and when I see pictures of buffalo chicken anything, my stomach churns with the greasy-looking-ness of it all.

And when AGOMYR put a bowl of this beautiful concoction in front of me, I inhaled so much, I felt sick the next day.  That’s something to be proud of.

Here’s one more thing you need to know:  There is no nutritional value in this dish.

It’s low-brow food at it’s best.  Dump and stir (and turn on the oven).  All of the ingredients come pre-packaged.  It calls for canned chicken!  Did you even know that was a thing?  I sure as heck didn’t (nor was I about to let it anywhere near my kitchen, I wasn’t lowering my standards that much).

It’s neon orange, for goodness sake, and almost all of the best indulgent foods are neon orange.

If you’re putting the finishing touches on your menu for this evening, give this a go.  I can guarantee it will be the first empty dish on the table.

Don’t think of it as lowering your standards.  Think of it as opening the door to a world of neon orange possibility.

To make 4 cups of dip, you will need:

• 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (if you used that pre-cooked chicken they sell at the grocery store, I wouldn’t tell)
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream or neufchatal cheese, softened
• 1/2 C cheddar or mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 C ranch dressing
• 1/2 C Frank’s Hot Sauce

Saute the chicken in a pan with a couple tablespoons olive oil.  Set on a plate to cool.  When chicken is cool enough to touch, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Shred chicken.

In a small, oven-proof dish (8×8 Pyrex is fine), stir the cream cheese, cheddar, ranch dressing, and hot sauce together until mixed.  Add shredded chicken and mix again.

Bake 20 minutes, or until heated through.

Serve hot with pretzels, tortilla chips, crackers, celery, and anything else that makes a good dunker.