newfound love. [creamy buffalo chicken & quinoa bake w. kale, broccoli & goat cheese]
Over the past few months, I’ve fallen in love with buffalo sauce. Don’t ask what took me so long. I had a ton of quinoa in my pantry and wanted to find a way to combine the grain with my newfound love (buffalo sauce). To my surprise, I found a recipe online that did just that. This quinoa bake was divine–I’m getting giddy just thinking about having it for dinner tonight. :)
creamy buffalo chicken & quinoa bake w. kale, broccoli & goat cheese
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-5
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups kale, stems removed
- 2 small heads of broccoli, chopped
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked then chopped or shredded
- 1 tbsp. flour
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 cup 1% milk
- ½ cup Trader Joe's shredded swiss and gruyere blend
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup Frank's RedHot Original sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2-3 tbsp. crumbled goat cheese, plus more if desired
- Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish
- Green onions, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8" baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Pour quinoa and 2 cups water into a medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add the chopped kale and broccoli on top of the water--do not stir. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat then fluff quinoa with a fork and stir the vegetables into the quinoa. Add the cooked chicken pieces, toss, and set aside.
- Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, then add 1 tbsp. butter. Once melted, add the flour and whisk together to create a roux. Cook, stirring constantly, 1-2 minutes, until mixture gets golden in color. Turn heat to low then add milk and stir. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add swiss/gruyere cheese and half of the cheddar cheese and whisk until mixture is smooth. Remove form heat then stir in the ¼ cup melted butter and hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour the sauce over the quinoa mixture and mix well to combine. Pour the quinoa into the greased baking dish. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
- Bake 10-15 minutes and then turn the broiler on and broil 3-5 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly.
- Remove pan from oven then top with goat cheese, cilantro and green onions. Let cool about 5 minutes, then serve.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest.