Copycat Orange Julius

   Menu Description: "Our non-fat Honey Mustard dressing & non-fat Cheddar/Mozzarella blend give this Blackened Chicken Salad the same great taste as our original & less than 5 grams of fat."

      Applebee's original Blackened Chicken Salad quickly became a favorite, encouraging this popular full-service chain to create a low-fat version of the delish dish. While most of the fat in the original comes from the tasty honey mustard dressing, this version creates a dressing that tastes just as good, yet has not a single gram of fat. Combine that with fresh lettuce, shredded carrot, a little egg white, non-fat shredded cheese, and a delicious Cajun spice blend which generously coats chicken seared in light butter then grilled, and you have a majorly munchable salad which is incredibly easy on the waistline. Who says you need gobs of fat to create a tasty meal?

Dressing
1/4 cup fat free mayonnaise
1/4 cup Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Chicken Marinade
1 cup water
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire

Cajun Spice Blend
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons light butter

Salad
8 cups chopped iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup fat free shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fat free shredded cheddar cheese
1 large tomato, diced
1 hardboiled egg white, diced

1. Make dressing by combining ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well by hand. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator until salad is ready.
2. Combine water, lime juice, soy sauce, and Worcestershire in a medium bowl, and stir. Add the chicken breasts to the marinade, cover bowl and keep in refrigerator for several hours. Overnight is even better.
3. When chicken is marinated, preheat a frying pan or skillet (an iron skillet, if you’ve got it) over medium/high heat. Also, preheat your barbecue grill to medium/high heat.
4. Combine the spices for the Cajun spice blend in a small bowl. Sprinkle a teaspoon of the spice blend over one side of each of the chicken breasts. Cover the entire surface of the chicken with spice.
5. Melt the butter in the hot pan, then sear the chicken breasts for 2-3 minutes on the side with the spices. While first side cooks, sprinkle another teaspoon of spice over the top of each chicken breast, coating that side as you did the other. Flip the chicken over, and sear for another 2-3 minutes. The surface of the chicken will be coated with a charred, black layer of flavor. This is exactly what you are shooting for.
6. Finish the chicken off on your barbecue grill. Grill each breast on both sides for 2-3 minutes, or until they are done.
7. While chicken is cooking prepare the salads by splitting the lettuce into two large bowls. Toss in the red cabbage and carrots. Mix the cheeses together, then top the salad with the cheeses and hardboiled egg. Sprinkle the diced tomato on each salad.
8. Slice the chicken breast, across each breast in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spread the chicken over the top of the salad and serve immediately with dressing on the side.

     With this secret recipe from the latest TSR low-lat book, it isn't necessary to cook the chicken over a mesquite grill as they do in the restaurant chain. Sure, you could get some mesquite wood chips and throw 'em on your barbecue or you can use that charcoal that has mesquite in it. But an easier way to get the flavor of mesquite--especially if all you've got is a gas grill--is to soak the chicken in a marinade made with mesquite-flavored liquid smoke. In the restaurant these puppies are made with red chili tortillas. Since these type of tortillas can be a drag to track down, especially in fat-free versions, we'll use plain fat-free tortillas for our tasty reduced-fat clone.  <O:P></O:P>

<O:P>Mesquite Marinade
<O:P></O:P>1/2 cup water<O:P> </O:P>
<O:P>1 teaspoon mesquite-flavored liquid smoke
<O:P>1/2 teaspoon salt
dash ground black pepper

Spicy BBQ Sauce </O:P>
<O:P>1/2 cup Bull's-Eye Original BBQ Sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
dash chili powder

1 boneless chicken breast
1/3 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/3 cup sliced green bell pepper
1/3 cup sliced Spanish onion
<O:P></O:P>2 large (12-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
1 1/3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. <O:P>Prepare the marinade by combining the ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken breast fillet to the bowl, cover, and chill for one hour.
2. When the chicken is finished marinating, preheat your grill to high temperature.</O:P>
3. As grill is heating, prepare the spicy BBQ sauce by mixing the ingredients in a small bowl.</O:P>
4. <O:P></O:P>Throw the chicken on the grill and cook it for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until it's done. When the chicken is done cooking, chop it into bite-size pieces.
5. Spray a light coating of nonstick cooking spray on a medium skillet over medium heat. Sauté <O:P></O:P>the sliced peppers and onion in the pan for 4 to 5 minutes or until the veggies start to brown.
6. Set a large skillet over medium/low heat.</O:P>
7. Put one flour tortilla in the skillet and sprinkle 1/3 cup of cheese over half of the tortilla. Spoon half of the vegetables over the cheese, followed by half of the chicken.<O:P>
8. Spoon a generous portion of the spicy BBQ sauce over the chicken, followed by another 1/3 cup of cheese.
9. Fold the other side of the tortilla over the filling, and press down so that it stays in place.
10. By this time, the cheese on the bottom should be melted. If not, wait another minute or so, then flip the quesadilla over and heat for another couple minutes or until all of the cheese has melted.
11. Slide the quesadilla onto a plate and slice it into 4 pieces. Repeat for the second quesadilla and serve immediately with salsa on the side. 

1. Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract
3. Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or 10-12 minutes for a crispier
cookie.
Makes 15 large cookies.

          The first Top Secret Recipes book features a version of this clone recipe for America's most beloved candy creation. That recipe now sits in just about every collection of "copycat" recipes passed around the Web. But since 1993, I've learned a few things about the delicate science of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cloning. You know, stuff like: "Never clone peanut butter cups while crossing a busy intersection," and "Don't clone peanut butter cups while under a tall tree in the rain." These are the sort of handy tips that you don't find anywhere else on the Internet. These are the things that come with experience, perseverance and a long, complicated thought process. Over seven years have passed, and I figured perhaps it was time to share some of the more useful of these discoveries with all you great folks here on the site. Now when you make your Reese's clones, you'll know to use reduced-fat peanut butter for a better texture. Now when you're craving that delicate combination of flavors, you'll know to get out the scissors to trim muffin cups for the chocolate. This is the improved recipe right here, authorized, and in its entirety! Now you can forget all about that other Reese's clone formula. 
     Although, you might want to keep in mind the thing about the busy intersection.    

12 paper muffin cups
One 12-ounce pkg. milk chocolate chips
1 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Cut the top half off of the muffin cups so that they are shallower.
2. Pour the chocolate chips into a glass bowl and melt them in the microwave: Microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes. Stir the chips gently, and let them sit for a minute or so. If the chocolate needs more melting, microwave those chippies again at half power for 30 seconds. Stir gently. Continue the process, stirring gently as you go. But be very careful not to overcook the chocolate or it'll seize up on you like day old Carolina roof tar. 
3. Using a teaspoon, spoon a portion of the chocolate into the middle of a muffin cup. Draw the chocolate up the edges of the cup with the back of the spoon. Coat the entire inside of the muffin cup with chocolate and place it into a muffin tin. Repeat with the remaining muffin cups and then put the whole muffin tin in the fridge so that the chocolate hardens.
4. Combine the reduced-fat peanut butter, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
5. When the chocolate in the muffin cups has hardened, pop the sweetened peanut butter into the microwave oven on full power for 1 minute. This will soften up the peanut butter so that it easily flows into the cups.
6. Spoon a small portion of peanut butter into each of the chocolate-coated cups. Leave room at the top for an additional layer of chocolate, which we'll add later. Pop the candy back in the refrigerator to harden the peanut butter. This should take an hour or so.
7. When the peanut butter filling has hardened, re-melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on half power for 30 to 60 seconds. Use a teaspoon to spread a layer of chocolate over the top of each candy. Chill the candy once again to set up the chocolate.
8. Finally, remember to take the paper off the outside of the peanut butter cups before eating them. 


Makes 12 candies.