Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Loaf

I am a huge fan of buffalo wings, sans the wings.  Kind of like loving a great reuben sandwich...without the thousand island dressing or the corned beef.   It's not really possible I know but humor me. 

I've been on a  buffalo chicken kick recently and this loaf was a welcome diversion from the fried boneless "wings" at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Yes, I probably ruined it if what you love is fatty fried crispy crunchy boneless wing goodness.  But I do love the fatty fried crispy crunch boneless wings and I still think this loaf was pretty darned good.  The quinoa actually adds a little crunch to the loaf and the chicken is full of the buffalo chicken flavor, especially if you drizzle a good amount across the top.

Mozzarella may not be traditional but it does add a nice cheesy stringy bite to the loaf.  It'd also be fun to add a layer in the middle, but I didn't think of that until after the fact. 

Quinoa Turkey Loaf

Ingredients
1/3 cup uncooked quinoa
2/3 cup water or chicken broth
1.5 lbs ground chicken

1/4 cup oat bran or bread crumbs
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded italian cheese

additional buffalo wing sauce for drizzling over top

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees grease loaf pan
3. Add chicken, cooked quinoa, buffalo sauce, oat bran, egg, and pepper to a large bowl  and mix until well combined. The mixture will be very moist. Pour into prepared loaf pan
4. Top with cheese
5. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 35-50 minutes.  An 8 inch loaf pan took 40 minutes. (A thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F.
6. Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before removing to platter.  Drizzle with additional buffalo sauce.