Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps + Celebrity Crushes

Today officially feels like the holidays are over. I had a truly wonderful time over the last week and a half spending time with family, lounging around with Shaun, catching up on sleep and just relaxing. Yesterday, we ended our little staycation with a viewing of Sherlock Holmes 2. Shaun has read the whole Sherlock Holmes collection and is a big fan. I was happy to go along so that I could stare dreamily at this guy...

Don't laugh at me.

Call me crazy, but I fell head over heels for Robert Downey Jr. when he starred in Only You and ever since, my love has never waivered. Shaun and I talk openly about the fact that he is probably my #1 celebrity crush.

I know...he may not be the most obvious choice to claim the #1 spot on my list, but what can I say? I like the tall, dark and handsome ones (though I supposed he's not particularly tall), not to mention that he's a little dorky with some bad boy thrown in. Oh and then he went and became Iron Man, so...you know. What more could a girl ask for?

I told you mine, now you tell me yours...dish! Who is your #1 celebrity crush?

Swoon.

Moving on.

As I may have told you, for our Christmas Eve celebration at my parents house, we don't really do a big dinner, but instead do a round of cold appetizers, followed by a wave of warm appetizers. My whole family loves to cook and so this is the perfect way for everyone to contribute a dish and no one person is stuck with all of the work. For one of my dishes, I created a buffalo chicken lettuce wrap.

 

I love love love buffalo chicken and I thought putting the mixture into a lettuce wrap would be a nice, light addition to the spread and would look simply gorgeous to boot.

Spoiler Alert: I was right.

Using the basic Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe as a guide, I added a lot more real, roasted chicken, subtracted a lot of the cream cheese & blue cheese, baked it off and then filled up some beautiful leaves of Boston lettuce. The buffalo chicken was just the perfect mix of spice and blue cheese while the lettuce was incredibly delicate and just looked so chic filled up and plated open-faced on a large platter.

I love this dish because it's incredibly easy. It can also be a perfect party food but is simple enough for a weeknight dinner. One thing is for certain, I will absolutely be making this again.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
3 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless or bone-in with skin)
1 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 C Frank's Red Hot
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
1/3 C blue cheese dressing
1-2 heads of Boston lettuce, trimmed and washed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray, lay out the chicken (I used bone-in w/skin, but boneless, skinless works nicely too). Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. Roast about 25 minutes or until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, cut into small cubes (discard skin and bone). Place in a large mixing bowl and combine with cream cheese, Frank's, blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing. You can place this in a baking dish and heat for about 20 minutes, or pack it up to be heated right before serving. I made mine a day in advance and simply reheated it before serving. Once warm, place a tablespoon or more into each lettuce leaf. Place all together on a platter and serve with extra blue cheese for dressing.

These were such an easy and fun recipes. I love that using the lettuce as a wrap was a totally unexpected change up from a traditional (and heavier) wrap. I hope you give these a try and enjoy!

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever made or eaten lettuce wraps? I am a recent convert...I love them!

Who is your celebrity crush? Come on, I told you mine...

psst...Kimberly is blogging about kicking off her fitness regimen for the new year over on The Peach & The Pit! Head on over to check it out!