Buffalo chicken quinoa salad. So I’m told January is all about eating healthy, since no one really does in December! I mean who wants salad when you can have cookies upon cookies upon cookies. But alas, our belly might tell us otherwise which is why we’re on a cleanse. Quinoa is one of those “hot” ingredients right now for being healthy so why not hop on the bandwagon with this buffalo chicken quinoa salad.
Lauren and I are always on the lookout for easy and healthy salads that we can eat at work during the week. Recently I’ve started to use quinoa more and more in my recipes, especially my lunch salads. I figured, combining quinoa with one of my favorite meals, buffalo chicken, was a good start to getting back into healthy mode. This is inspired from Half Baked Harvest.
Who would have thought that buffalo sauce and healthy could actually go together. What makes this buffalo chicken quinoa salad great, is you can make it and have for lunch for the whole week. I’m all about meals that last for longer than a day. So if you’re looking for something that’s healthy, but tastes good go for this buffalo chicken quinoa salad! Enjoy!
You wouldn't believe that buffalo sauce and healthy would actually go together until you make this buffalo chicken quinoa salad.
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup broccoli, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups broccoli slaw
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
- 4 green onions diced
Cook quinoa according to package. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk hot sauce, olive oil and salt. Set aside.
Heat medium skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Add 1/4 cup buffalo sauce dressing and then add broccoli and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl or container, mix the quinoa, chicken, broccoli, slaw, carrots and the buffalo sauce dressing. Add the blue cheese and green onions and toss. When serving, add some additional blue cheese and green onion if desired. Enjoy!
