Feta Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Mac and Cheese Quinoa

Anything with Buffalo Chicken automatically becomes Joe's favorite food, no joke.  He loves actual buffalo chicken, buffalo chicken dip, buffalo chicken sandwiches, etc.  I am quite indifferent to it because of two reasons.  I don't like spicy foods, and normally buffalo chicken is made with blue cheese, which I also don't particularly enjoy.  So, a lot of times recipes are modified, so that Joe can enjoy his buffalo chicken, and I can eat dinner.  This is one where it was easy to modify.  These meatballs can be stuffed with just about anything so if you like blue cheese, go for it!  The dressing is also put on after the meatballs are baked, so I left some meatballs out of the sauce when I was tossing them in a bowl.  That way both of us were happy, and quite frankly, both of us thought it was an amazing recipe!

We had this with Mac and Cheese baked quinoa which was absolutely amazing.  The quinoa can be made any way you would like flavor wise.  I added spinach because that is one of the only cooked veggies I eat, but I am sure that adding broccoli or another vegetable would be just as amazing!  So, with that, below are two recipes that I absolutely love and they will definitely be repeated at our house!

Feta-Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:
1lb ground chicken breast
1/4 small red onion, grated or minced
2 gloves garlic, microplaned or minced
1 egg white
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoon powdered Ranch Dip mix
4oz block feta cheese, cut into 1/2” cubes
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup buffalo wing sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together red onion, garlic, egg white, bread crumbs, and ranch dip mix in a large bowl. Add ground chicken then mix until just combined. Divide mixture into quarters, then each quarter into 4 balls. Press a cube of feta into the center of each ball then close mixture around cheese to seal. Place meatballs onto a non-stick sprayed cooling rack set on top of a baking sheet, then bake for 16-18 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat then add buffalo wing sauce and stir to combine. Add cooked meatballs to skillet then use a spoon to coat in sauce. Place a lid on top and turn heat to low to keep warm. Note that these are amazing without the sauce if you are not a buffalo sauce fan!

Spinach Mac and Cheese Quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed and drained
• Veggies of your choice (optional)
• good pinch of salt
• a few grinds of seasoning salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheese, I used a mixture of cheddar, Italian, Swiss, and Mozarella
• 1/4 cup panko
• 8 oz. spinach (or any other veggie)

• Directions

  Lightly saute any veggies you would like in this dish.  Cook quinoa to packaged instructions until fully cooked. (About 15 minutes) Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 13x9 inch dish( or 8 individual ramekins) with cooking spray. Whisk together eggs and milk in large bowl. Fold in quinoa mixture and cheese. Stir very well and let some of the cheese melt.  Add veggies if you would like.  Transfer to prepared baking dish and if using Panko Crumbs or Bread crumbs add now and bake 30-35 mins, until bread crumbs are browned. 
  
  
  
  
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