White vs Dark Meat: Buffalo Wings

So Ben's FAVORITE restaurant is Buffalo Wild Wings... and as we all know - there is nothing healthy about that restaurant! A few weeks ago, we totally caved and went and ate wings. The result of that meal was totally unexpected. We never anticipated that our minds and bodies could be so out of sync. We felt miserable all day after eating out - so we figured there must be a better way to enjoy this so beloved meal.

I have to admit I have always been pretty weary of dark/thigh meat. So, I decided to research the true difference between the cuts of meat. Here is what I found: Breast or "white" meat is the part of the chicken that performs the least amount of work. The dark meat is located in the wings and thighs where the chicken walks, hops, runs, flies - whatever. These hard working muscle groups contain a high density of proteins called myoglobins, which help transport oxygen to the muscles. Due to the myoglobins, dark meat contains higher (between 2-3x!) iron, zinc, omega 3 and omega 6, amino acids.

Often when you buy dark meat, it comes with the skin still on. Dark meat gets a bad wrap due to its' high fat content. All in all, dark meat without the skin is slightly higher in fat (5.5g vs 2g in 118g of meat), calories (137cal vs 130cal in 118g of meat), and slightly lower in protein (22.4g vs 27g in 118g of meat). Now, we aren't saying drop the white meat for dark - but hey, if you love wings or drumsticks - definitely incorporate it in your meal rotation! We certainly have...

We set off to create the perfect wings recipe - and compared to all the borrowed receipts we've tried - everyone loves' Ben's best. It's perfectly Paleo, minus the Frank's Hot Sauce.

Yep - broiled, not fried. There's not even butter added to these. 

Ben's (Healthy!) Wing Recipe:

- Skinless Chicken Wings

- 1 bottle of Franks RedHot Buffalo Sauce*

- 2-4 heads of garlic, minced

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- Garlic Salt to taste

Turn the broiler on HIGH. Lay the wings on an oven pan, and lightly brush each one with olive oil. Broil the wings on both sides until they are lightly golden (we wanted to get the crispy-ish texture as if they were fried). While they are broiling, mix together the Franks, minced garlic, and garlic salt in a bowl. Once the wings are done, remove from heat and dip each one into the Frank's mixture. Place all the wings back on the pan and broil again for only a few minutes - just until the sauce begins to dry onto the wings. 

If you're fat content conscious, broil the wings on a baking rack on top of a pan, to drain all the fat, instead of letting the wings sit and soak back up all the fatty juices.

*For those of you who like to eat clean and raw - I was a little hesitant about the Frank's sauce - but actually it is pretty good. We have a saying at Revolution Foods - "We like chefs in chef coats, not chefs in lab coats...". A good rule of thumb is that if you can't pronounce one of the ingredients in something, it's probably not good for your body. The ingredients in the sauce are: Distilled Vinegar, Aged Cayenne Red Peppers, Salt, Water, Canola Oil, Paprika, Xanthan Gum, Natural Butter Type Flavor And Garlic Powder. I know xanthan gum is an ingredient must for sauces, so I let that one slide - but I am still a little leery about the "butter flavor" - although it does say natural. The wording of ingredients and labeling is so political, I will have to look into it some more! Frank's also do not have msg or gluten in it - sweet!

PS I (Brooke) am on my 3rd week/14th day of Crossfit! Ben now has us going 6 days a week. Yikes. I am having daily conversations about my concerns of gaining too much weight/muscle/etc... So far, I've collected and researched some pretty good insight...