Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad

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It's no surprise that I'm a fan of buffalo chicken. My baked buffalo chicken salad has been one of our most popular posts! But I like to find new and interesting ways to consume it, so when I stumbled upon some inspiration for buffalo chicken with quinoa, I knew it had my name written all over it. 

For this recipe you will need:
1 cup raw quinoa (2 cups cooked)
2 cups water
1 1/4 pound chicken breast
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
4 scallions (green onions), diced
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup hot sauce, divided

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Then, prep your chicken. If you don't buy it thin, pound it out! Season the chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. 

Place chicken in an oven-safe baking dish. Spread 1/4 cup of hot sauce on both sides of the chicken breast. I use Frank's, but any hot sauce will do! Bake the chicken on each side about 12 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the quinoa.  Follow the directions on the package, but generally the ratio is 1 cup uncooked quinoa : 2 cups water or broth. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the water is evaporated.  When the quinoa is done, transfer it to a large bowl to cool.

While the chicken and quinoa are cooking, dice the scallions and shred the carrots and cabbage. Set aside to wait for the other inredients.

Once the chicken has finished cooking, cut into small cubes. 



Combine the chicken with cooked quinoa. Add diced green onions and shreded cabbage and carrots. Add 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles and additional hot sauce to taste. Mix well.

Serve topped with additional green onion and blue cheese crumbles as desired. 

I love to make this dish for lunch, it keeps well and is really filling! 

baked buffalo chicken

Herb and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

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Sometimes I run into food ruts.  This typically happens over the summer when the days are long and dinner dates are frequent.  A few weeks ago, I decided to snap myself out of this rut by preparing a new recipe from my huge stack of Cooking Light magazines.  After browsing through them, I decided to go with Herb and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts, with my own minor modifications.  Truthfully, I'd never prepared anything stuffed before so I was excited to give this a try.  I was pretty pleased with the results.  For this recipe you'll need:

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 package goat cheese (3-ounces)

1/2 package feta cheese (3-ounces)

1 egg

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

4 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, then begin by chopping the herbs.  Normally I'm not a huge fan of mint, but I decided to give it a go.  I figured the goat cheese would probably be the most dominating flavor in the stuffing and would need something to cut through it and brighten it up.

Once the herbs are prepped, add them to a bowl along with the breadcrumbs, goat and feta cheeses.  Mix lightly.  Then add the egg and stir until thoroughly absorbed.  You want the mixture to hold together, so if you need to use another egg or half an egg, add that and mix well.

At this point, clean and cut the chicken.  As I've mentioned previously, I buy my chicken breasts at Harris Teeter, pound them thin, and slice them into individual portions.  This time was no different, except I also sliced a slit in the middle of the chicken breast pieces.

Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side, or until browned.

At the same time, cook the stuffing over low heat for about 5 minutes.  

When the chicken and stuffing are done cooking on the stove top, stuff the chicken breasts evenly.  I didn't have anything to keep them closed, but you could use a toothpick if you wish to do so.  Place in a greased oven safe baking dish and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove and serve with homemade tzatziki sauce.  I served this to a friend and she loved it! This is a super quick, healthy meal option that reheats well.  I ate this every day for a week for dinner and didn't get tired of it.  Enjoy!

Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato

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On a cold winter day, there is nothing I crave more than a warm bowl of soup. Of course I love the classics, like tomato soup and lentil soup, but sometimes I want to mix it up and try something completely different. I found this recipe over the summer, and the sweet potato curry reminded of the pumpkin curry at Thai X-ing in DC. Have you guys tried it? Out.Of.This.World. I could not wait for the cold winter months so I'd have an excuse to slurp noodles and sweet potatoes from a warm, rich, curry broth. I know the list of ingredients is a little intimidating, but I promise the process is very simple and totally worth the shopping trip. 

To make the soup, you will need:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 stalks of fresh lemongrass

2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger - my grocery store was out so I used dried galangal ginger and it was great 

2 tablespoons Thai red or yellow curry paste - I used red because I already had it in my pantry

2 tablespoons curry powder 

1 teaspoon hot chili paste - such as sambal oelek 

2 cans of light unsweetened coconut milk,

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth (vegetarians could use vegetable broth)

2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce - should find it in the Asian aisle of your grocery store

2 teaspoons sugar

3 cups of green beans

2 sweet potatoes - peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 pound dried rice vermicelli noodles or rice stick noodles - I used fresh rice noodles from Trader Joes and they were a little sticky

3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion - for serving 

1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions - for serving

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for serving - I hate cilantro, so I omitted this ingredient

3 red Thai bird chiles or 2 red jalapeño chiles for serving. I used serrano chiles because that is what I found easily

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges - for serving

I love the bright purple color of shallots. They taste like a hybrid between garlic and onions. 

Once you've familiarized yourself with all of the ingredients, start out by prepping all of your vegetables. First, mince the shallots, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass. For the lemongrass, remove the tough outer leaves and then only use the bottom 4 inches of the stalk. 

Set aside the minced shallots, garlic, ginger and lemongrass. While you're still at your cutting board, peel your sweet potatoes and then cut them into 1/2 inch cubes. Then, trim the tough ends off of your green beans. Set the green beans and sweet potatoes aside in separate bowls. Then, take your raw chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch pieces. 

Once you're done prepping your vegetables and meat, its time to start making the broth.

In a large soup pot, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Then add the garlic, shallots, ginger, and lemongrass into the pot and heat for about 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is fragrant. Stir in curry paste, curry powder, and chili paste. Then add 1/2 can of coconut milk and stir for 2 minutes. Then add the remaining coconut milk, 2 1/2 tablespoons of fish sauce, all of the chicken broth, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Bring the broth to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside. 

Fill a separate pot with salted water and bring to a boil. First, add the green beans to the pot and boil for 30 seconds - make sure they keep their bright green color. Using a small strainer or slated spoon, scoop the green beans out and place in a separate bowl. 

Next, add the sweet potatoes into the same pot of boiling water and cook until soft - approximately 7 minutes. Then, scoop the sweet potatoes out of the water and set aside with the green beans.

Then, add the rice noodles to the same pot of boiling water, and follow directions on the package for cooking time. They should be al dente - softened but not mushy. Drain the noodles and set aside.

Finally, bring the pot of broth back up to a simmer. Once the soup is simmering, add the diced chicken to the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked through, add the sweet potatoes, green beans, and noodles back into the pot. 

Ladle the soup into individual bowls to serve! 

You can top the soup with any combination of the fresh cilantro, scallions, red onions, lime, and chills. I used finely diced red onion, scallions, and a little bit of Serrano chile. I garnished my whole bowl with fresh squeezed lime. 

Had to give you a shot with the noodles! 

Chicken Marsala

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One Sunday night I decided I wanted to prepare a simple, but delicious meal.  I didn't want to put in a ton of effort, and I also wanted to make sure there were leftovers.  I decided to go with one of my favorites, Chicken Marsala.  A quick Google search led me to Emeril Lagasse's recipe.  

For this recipe you will need: 
1/2 cup flour
1/8 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon 
Essence spice mixture (recipe will follow)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin and then cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped chives, for garnish, if desired

First, I made the "Essence".  This includes the ingredients listed below.  I didn't make the full recipe.  I just poured a few shakes of each ingredient into a Ziploc bag to be used for this recipe.  If you want to make enough to store and use again, follow the amounts listed below.

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespooon oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Once I finished preparing the "Essence", I cleaned the chicken and pounded it thin.  

Combine flour and Essence on a plate.  Coat the chicken in the flour and spice mixture.  

Then, heat oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat until it is hot.  Add the chicken and cook it for about 5 minutes on each side.  

While the chicken was cooking, I sliced the mushrooms.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, remove from skillet and set aside.  

Then add one more tablespoon of butter to the skillet and then add the mushrooms.  Stir frequently until the mushrooms are thoroughly cooked.  At this point, I would also suggest cooking the linguine to go with the chicken marsala. 

Next, add the marsala wine to the pan and bring it to a boil.  Reduce the wine by about half - this took me about 10 minutes.  Once the wine has reduced, add the chicken stock. This is where my sauce started to deviate from Emeril's.  The sauce was supposed to become thick on its own, but I did not have this result.  To remedy, I added a few sprinkles of flour and cornstarch.  I let the sauce continue to cook for another ten minutes until it reached the consistency I wanted.  Then, I returned the chicken to the pan and let everything simmer for another three minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate the linguine and top with chicken Marsala.  Simple, delicious and budget friendly.

My only other quip with this recipe was that it said prep time was 10 minutes with a cook time of 20 minutes. In no way did this meal take me 30 minutes to prepare.  I don't consider myself the fastest chef, but I do think I'm fairly efficient in the kitchen.  One hour was a more appropriate time estimate.   I hope you enjoy this recipe if you give it a try! 

Baked Buffalo Chicken Salad

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For me, lunch is always the hardest meal to plan.  I need something to look forward to at the mid-point in my work day, and unfortunately daily forays outside the office is not an option for me.  Therefore, one of my biggest challenges is making lunches that are healthy, filling and satisfying.  One meal that I try to vary is a simple salad.  I absolutely love buffalo chicken salad; however they tend to be fairly unhealthy given the fried chicken, blue cheese, and amount of dressing I tend to slather on.  So one day, I decided to try and create a healthier option. Since then, I've probably made this lunch around 20 times.  It is that good.

For the Buffalo Chicken you will need: 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast tenderloins

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup bread crumbs

2 egg whites, beaten

1 tablespoon water

Hot sauce as desired

3 tbsp butter

(recipe adapted from Epicurious)

I like to do all the prep for this meal before starting to prepare it, which happens basically in an assembly-line fashion.  First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.   

Then in a gallon size plastic bag, add the flour, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and salt.  Mix these ingredients in the bag by holding at the top and shaking a bit. 

In a small bowl or Tupperware, crack the eggs and mix whisk them.  I actually use the whole egg for this meal, which slightly lessens its healthiness factor, but I think adds more flavor.  I also add hot sauce to the egg mixture to increase the heat level on the buffalo chicken.  If you desire, add hot sauce to taste.  Then, on a plate, mix the breadcrumbs, and another teaspoon each of garlic powder and cayenne pepper. 

You are now ready to prepare the chicken.  Before we begin, I wanted to mention something about the chicken used in preparing this dish.  The recipe calls for chicken breast tenderloins.  I have typically used those, but this time, I used chicken breasts and pounded them thin.  Why?  Because, they were significantly cheaper at my grocery store and its just as delicious either way. 

Ok, back to the preparation. First, add the chicken to the bag and shake it until the chicken is coated in the flour mixture.  Then, dip the chicken in the egg mixture until it is fully covered.  Finally, place the chicken in the breadcrumbs and coat.  Then place the chicken on the baking sheet.  Repeat until all chicken is complete.  

Bake the chicken for 8 minutes, flip chicken and bake an additional 8 minutes.  Once chicken has cooled for about 15 minutes, you are ready to add the final touch.  The original recipe did not call for this, but I like to add it to make it seem more like traditional buffalo chicken.  Melt butter in microwave safe Tupperware, usually for about one minute, stirring intermittently.  Then add hot sauce—I usually add about 20-30 shakes of the bottle.  You may need to adjust the butter-to-hot sauce ratio for your palette.  This is just what works for me.  Once the butter-hot sauce mixture is ready, all you need to do is coat the chicken!  I usually just do this by mixing the chicken around using a fork until all of it is coated.

Salad Ingredients:

3 Hearts of Romaine Lettuce

3 Tomatoes

½ cup of low fat shredded cheddar cheese

1 red onion

Low fat or fat free blue cheese salad dressing

To prepare the salad, I simply chop romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and red onion.  I keep everything separate and ready to prepare for quick and easy lunch assembly.  I put the lettuce, chicken and cheese in one container and the tomatoes and red onions in a separate container to prevent it from getting soggy.  When I’m ready to eat lunch I simply toss the tomatoes and onion on top of the salad and add a bit of dressing.  This salad is healthy, delicious and keeps me full for the remainder of the day!

If you try it out, let us know what you think!