buffalo chicken quinoa | Brittany Jean's Blog

This past weekend was fully of trying new recipes for the week and they were all winners!! Love when that happens! Even though we had a snowy St Patrick’s Day (which was so beautiful), I know that spring is actually going to be here for real very soon, and that means summer and pool time is right around the corner — so it’s time to stop focusing on my sweater body and get serious about my bikini body again 🙂 Back to very seriously counting and tracking my calories consumed and burned each day and trying to stay focused and motivated.

Here is what we made for lunches this week:

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad Bowl

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup quinoa
3 cups water
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
2 bags broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
4 large celery stalks, chopped
4 cups shredded carrots
6 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles, plus more for garnish
4 green onions chopped, for garnish

Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup hot sauce (I recommend Franks)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions
1. In a medium pot, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff the quinoa with a fork.

2. While the quinoa is cooking make the buffalo sauce dressing (and then start the chicken and broccoli). In a measuring cup or small bowl combine the olive oil, hot sauce, and seasoned salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

3. Heat a medium size skillet over medium high heat Add a tablespoon of olive oil and saute the broccoli and celery for about 5 minutes (longer if using frozen). You want it to just start to soften, but still be crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the chicken to the same pan and cook the chicken for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Add 1/4 cup or so of the buffalo sauce and cook until the chicken absorbs the sauce.

4. When the quinoa is ready add the chicken, broccoli/celery mixture, and blue cheese crumbles and mix to combine while adding in the remaining dressing. If serving immediatly, add in the carrots, shredded cabbage as well. Since I was taking this for lunch at work, I put the quinoa mixture in a container, and then put my cabbage with the green onions mixed in into a ziploc bag, and then had another baggie of the shredded carrots — that way I could reheat the quinoa mixture and add in the cold ingredients at the end (I have ended up serving the quinoa on top of a bed of the cabbage and carrot shreds.

Hope you enjoy!!