Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Mac and Cheese

July 24, 2013 Categories Chicken, One-Dish Dinners 1 Comment Tags buffalo chicken, kate m, quinoa, royal baby

Royal baby ROYAL BABY ROYAL BABY!

Fess up — who else out there obsessively stalked all the reliable news outlets (aka Twitter and People.com) for two weeks straight, hoping to be the “first” to know about The Greatest Baby Born In Our Time? You’re in good company. Well, my company at least. And TGBBIOT didn’t disappoint! Have you seen these photos? And the Duchess? I. can’t. even. I one day aspire to look one-tenth as pretty as she looks 24 hours after giving birth. Sheesh.

[and the baby blue dress she wore out of the hospital!? Get it? BABY? BLUE?!?! Duchess, do you miss nothing?]

Now, if I had my life one-tenth as together as the Duchess has hers, today I would be sharing with you something festive like…British food? Baby cupcakes? With royal icing? ARRRRGH BABY CUPCAKES WITH ROYAL ICING OF COURSE. That’s what the Duchess would have done.

Ugh. Whatever, Duchess. You too perfect.

BUFFALO CHICKEN QUINOA MAC AND CHEESE (slightly adapted from Iowa Girl Eats)

1 and 1/4 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 chicken breasts
garlic powder
onion powder
salt & pepper
2 tbsp flour
1 and 1/2 cups milk, divided
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp buffalo wing or hot sauce
1 and 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chevre (goat cheese), crumbled

1. Preheat broiler. Cook quinoa according to package directions and set aside. Season chicken breasts on both sides with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, and cook in a skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat until cooked all the way through. Chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Whisk together flour and 1/2 cup milk in separate saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and pour in remaining milk. Add 2/3 the green onions. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, then cook for about a minute.
3. Remove pan from heat and add in buffalo sauce and cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese is completely melted. Add in cooked quinoa and chicken, and stir to combine.
4. Pour mixture into non-stick sprayed casserole dish and top with chevre and remaining green onions. Broil for 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is golden and sauce is bubbly.

I feel like the Duchess may be too perfect to serve something containing wing sauce, but I’ll leave that to her to address on her upcoming mommy/food/lifestyle blog that already exists in my dreams.