Buffalo-Blue Chicken Bowl

Buffalo-Blue Chicken Bowl with Carrots, Pickled Peppers, Fresh Avocado, and Quinoa

by Green Chef

Green Chef is a company that provides organic ingredients or responsibility farmed/ raised eggs, meats, cheeses, fish.  

Those are all attractive qualities in a company which is why I am glad that I found them online.

Once I received my Green Chef delivery I was pleasantly surprised by the color coded packaging stickers on the items so I knew which ingredients accompanied each recipe.  I was also very happy to see more eco-friendly packing methods when compared to the other home delivery companies I have tried so far. 

When I opened up the box it smelled really good. like...really really good. I'm not sure if it was the fresh vegetables mixed with the packaging materials or what but, it was very pleasant. 

Take a look at the packaging:

All ingredients arrived in great condition except for the strawberries which were in the brown boxes in the back of the last photo.  They had been crushed during the packing process and were badly bruised upon arrival. 

I decided to first make the Buffalo-Blue Chicken bowl purley by chance as I asked my husband, "do you want red meat, fish, or a vegetarian dish for dinner tonight".  He answered,  "chicken" so the course was set and the ball started rolling.

When picking out this recipe I was intrigued by the "pub grub gets a heart-healthy update" description provided by Green Chef.

Critique:

1) Visually, this dish looks fantastic when plated. 

I mean look at it, how could you not agree?! 

I love the colors of this dish with the final product plated, it looks so much more appealing than a monochromatic plate of buffalo wings.  

I almost feel healthier looking at this plate. 

2) The overall flavor of this dish though was too bland for my liking.  

The quinoa was not a seasoned quinoa so I felt it really lacked flavor. I ended up mixing the dish together into a glorious "mash" and then ate it which improved the flavor.  

My husband who is a buffalo chicken "snob" (he loves buffalo chicken and can tell you "the best" places to buy it in the Boston area) and both of us agree that this buffalo chicken was really lacking in flavor and did not really taste like buffalo chicken at all to be honest.

3) There was also NO HEAT to this dish at all and even though it is honey-buffalo sauce I would have expected some bite mixed with the sweetness of the honey in the sauce.  

We surmise that the sauce may have been lackluster in flavor because of the bland foods that permeate the American diet.  

We thought it amusing that the "Pro Tip" in step for said, "If heat sensitive omit pickled peppers".  My husband and I laughed as we taste tested the pickled peppers directly from the jar.  The peppers were incredibly mild.

We both LOVE hot sauce and spicy foods so I think that negatively colored our review of this dish significantly.  

My husband fought against me adding Franks Red Hot sauce to the dish for the sake of the review but, I just had to.  I did taste everything after it was combined BEFORE I added the hot sauce and I maintained that the dish lacked overall flavor and heat. 

Proof that I tried the dish before the sauce was added:

I then drizzled Franks on the dish and it suddenly became one of my favorite dishes. 

It was truly amazing.

It was as if the flying spaghetti monster flew down and gifted me with a healthier version of one of our favorite dishes. 

You can really, "put that sh*t on everything" just as the commercials say! 

As a side note- I really do put Frank's on everything. Eggs, pasta, pickles, salad, baby spinach...the list goes on and on. 

Dish with Franks Red Hot Sauce drizzled on it:

I think that if you are marketing this dish to the typical American who does not like spicy food and is used to a bland, monochromatic diet that this dish would be perceived as flavorful and have just the right amount of "bite". 

4) We both love that the buffalo chicken pan fried rather than deep fried as it was not as heavy and oily as traditional wings.  

This time, my husband watched me like a hawk to make sure that I did not smoke out the house again as I did previously (see my other posts for details).  

Final Impression: 

I will be making this dish again but, I will make my own buffalo sauce to cook the chicken in.  I will also use more sauce so that it flavors the quinoa which is bland as I previously mentioned.  This dish was great after a few minor changes....simply great.