When I met my Chad (at my husband’s friend’s wedding), I knew we would be friends. In fact, I think I told him that night that he was my new best friend.
Every once in a while, Chad sends me one of his favorite recipes, and I add it to the cooking queue immediately. Remember when he shared Creamy Chicken Lasagna– excellent recipe!
This time, he sent me his version of Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese after going to one of his favorite DC restaurant, Commissary, with his fiance, Jon.
We made the recipe Chad sent us twice. The first time exactly as he made it (Austin loved it as a side dish) and the second time, we added some veggies to the mix to pretend it’s healthier 
Chad did a great job lightening the original dish up, and I was so excited that he shared it with me. Enjoy!
Take One Without Veggies
Take Two With Veggies
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Ingredients
- 1 package whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 package of laughing cow reduced fat swiss cheese (all the wedges)
- 1 cup fat free ricotta cheese
- 1.5 cups of hot sauce (less if you don't want it too spicy
- 1/2 cup of water
- 3 tbs I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
- dash(es) of cayenne pepper
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 10 oz frozen spinach
- 12 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- Difficulty: easy
Directions
Melt butter and mix with hot sauce. Add water. Combine with chicken in crock pot, adding dash(es) of cayenne pepper. Cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Once finished, using two forks working in opposite directions, shred the chicken and stir. (I didn't read the recipe all the way through before starting at dinner time, so we cooked the chicken for 20 min in the microwave, shredded it, and added it to the sauce mixture.)
Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
In large pot, heat oil, brown garlic and cook onions until they are soft. Add the spinach and tomatoes.
Meanwhile, unwrap swiss cheese and combine with ricotta cheese in large bowl.
In pot with veggies, add pasta and cheese and mix. Then add chicken and stir thoroughly.
Buffalo chicken mac and cheese sounds like the greatest thing ever! Happy New Year
Ashley – Baker by Nature recently posted..Happy New Year & 12 Things I learned in 2012
Ummm love this spin on traditional mac and cheese!
Katie recently posted..Egg White Tacos
Love this! Great job lady
Nicole (MyLoveForCooking) recently posted..Cherry Pistachio Granola
This looks like a great quick recipe and such a nice change from the boring mac-n-cheese! I’m so happy that you visited and linked up at One Creative Weekend at OneCreativeMommy.com. The next party starts tonight at 8:00 PM MST. I hope you’ll be back.
Sounds like something I just made over break…Buffalo chicken grilled cheese