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

"Cobb-inspired" kale and grilled steak salad

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I've always loved Cobb salads, but never made one at home because, well, they just are not very creative. You can order a traditional Cobb salad at almost every American food bar/restaurant in the country.  But maybe that's because there's a certain genius to the ingredients - the freshness of the crisp lettuce, the saltiness of the chicken and bacon, balanced by the creaminess of the avocado, and the tang of blue cheese. And of course, the hard boiled egg for good measure. On a recent eventing, I was craving an avocado salad, but wanted it to be more filling. My mind went to Cobb salads, but then I started thinking how I could take the common salad and make it my own. 

My version has kale and arugula instead of the traditional iceberg or romaine. I roasted cherry tomatoes, grilled steak instead of chicken, used Roquefort - a type of stinky blue cheese, and topped the whole thing with a runny fried egg. I don't know about you guys, but I've recently come to the decision that few dishes don't taste better with a fried egg on top. I skipped the bacon, but don't skimp on my account! Add it if that's your thing. This salad is seriously awesome.

Ingredients (for two)

Kale + Arugula mixture (use best judgment of amount -depending on number of people serving)

1 pint container of cherry tomatoes 

1/4 cup Roquefort or blue cheese (crumbled)

6-8 oz Skirt steak

1 Avocado

2 Eggs

2-3 tsp butter

Salt & pepper

Garlic powder 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cherry tomatoes in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Roast in oven for 20 minutes or until they burst from the touch of a fork. I used this really pretty pack of colorful heirloom tomatoes. 

While the tomatoes are roasting, remove the  kale from stems. Cut up kale and arugula into bite size pieces. Cut up the avocado and toss it into the greens. Then crumble up Roquefort - use sparingly b/c it's really strong- and toss into the mix.

Next cook the steaks. Drizzle skirt steak with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil or melted butted and salt & pepper on each side. Grill the skirt steaks on a hot grill pan over high heat - if you want to keep it medium rare, cook for about 3 minutes per side.

Pull steak off the grill and take the cherry tomatoes out of the oven. Let the steak sit on a cutting board to rest while you cook the eggs. It should rest for 6-8 minutes before you slice it. 

 

Using a small frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add the egg and fry, flip, and fry- try to keep a sunny side up consistency.  Do only one egg per time and carefully  slide it onto a plate. I didn't put this on top of the salad because I wanted it to rest on top of all the ingredients at the end. 

At this point the tomatoes should be ready. Use a slotted spoon to remove the roasted tomatoes and place over the salad mixture. Reserve the tomato and olive liquid for dipping with good bread.

Then, slice steak and toss over the salad with the roasted cherry tomatoes. 

Beautiful, eh? Plate a generous portion of salad per plate and top with a fried egg.  With the amount of flavors and juices, you won't even need to add any additional dressing!  

Avocado, Feta, and Citrus Salad

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Well it looks like spring is FINALLY here. I don't know about you, but as soon as it gets warm I just want avocados all the time. This year winter seemed to last forever, and I started dreaming up summertime salads while watching the snow fall in late March. This salad is amazingly simple, refreshing, and healthy.  
 
The flavor combination is the perfect balance of acid from the light citrus dressing, creaminess from the avocados, salt from the feta cheese, and crunch from toasted almonds.  

The ingredients for a salad for two are:

1 bag of washed spinach or arugula (or mix it up by adding in some kale)
1 avocado
1 lemon
1 naval or blood orange 
1/4 cup almonds
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
cracked black pepper 

On a hot summer day, the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  This recipe will take 5-10 minutes max.  First, peel and slice the orange horizontally into round discs. 

Split the avocado in half and pull out the pit.
Slice the avocado into thin wedges and sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt. Next, take the slivered almonds and toss them into a dry pan over low to medium heat.Watch these closely because they will toast in just a minute.  Take them off the heat when they start to turn brown.  Next, make the citrus vinaigrette.  In a small bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the juice from one of the orange slices, the juice from one lemon, a squeeze from a lime wedge, and a pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Lastly, assemble your salad! I started with a bed of spinach, then topped it with the sliced naval oranges, avocado, a sprinkle of feta cheese, a couple of toasted almonds, and finally a drizzle of the dressing.

Steak Salad with Healthy Creamy Vinaigrette Dressing

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Guys, I've been holding out on you.  You'll forgive me when I share this recipe with you, I hope.  A few months ago, I came across a steak salad recipe on my friend Mary's blog.  Normally I make salads with chicken as the protein, but this salad recipe inspired me to venture out a bit. 

For this Salad recipe you will need:

• Romaine Lettuce
• Strawberries
• Blue Cheese
• 1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

For the dressing you will need:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablesppons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tabelspoon extra-virgin olive oil

To prepare the steak, lightly coat with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides.  Set the oven to broil.  


My oven has a high and low broil setting, so I usually start it on high.  Put the two oven racks on the bottom racks.  Cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil and place on the bottom rack.  Then, put the steaks directly on the rack above.  



Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side depending on thickness of the meat.  I cook my meat medium rare, so if you prefer it more well done, adjust cooking time accordingly.  After five minutes, flip the steak.  Cook for another 4-5 minutes. 

Move the oven racks to the top two racks, putting the cookie sheet between the two racks.  Change the oven temperature to low broil.  Put the steak directly on the top rack.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.  Turn the steak one more time and cook for a final 3-4 minutes. 

 

When the steak is done, remove from the oven and set on a cutting board to cool for about 15-30 minutes.   



Once the steak has rested, slice it into small pieces.  Try not to be too amazed at how wonderfully it has cooked.


Slice your lettuce and strawberries.  Don't forget to wash them!

Let's move on to the dressing.  It's really easy.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or Tupperware that you will use for storage using a whisk.  Voila!  Simple and healthy.  I haven't used store bought dressing in years!



Lastly, tossed the sliced steak with the lettuce, strawberries and blue cheese.  Add dressing to taste.  I've made this salad probably five or six times since August.  I am in love with it.  It is extremely fresh and satisfying.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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!