Spicy, Comforting...Sure!!

There are two days left in March.  March.  And we woke up to a dusting of snow.  Snow.  At this point in the day, the sun is shining brightly, and that helps (note to self, call the window cleaners!  Pronto!) a little.  As does the smell of freshly-cut pineapple coming from the kitchen, but still.   Even the daffodils that are beginning to poke up through our front yard have hoisted a tiny white flag.  Enough, winter.  Please? 

Anyway, I committed the cardinal sin (should that be capitalized?  I don't know...) of Pinning While in Traffic and came across this yummy looking dish.  I, who really, really doesn't like wings, seem to find quite a few Buffalo-XYZ menu items.  Go figure.  In any event, this seemed like a great thing to toss together on a chilly afternoon.  Here's hoping it delivers.

   Buffalo Chicken Potato Bake

What You'll Need

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 8-10 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes  (I leave the skin on)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 TBS. freshly ground pepper
• 1 TBS. paprika
• 2 TBS. garlic powder
• 6 TBS. hot sauce

Topping:

• 2 c. cheese; we used a reduced fat fiesta blend
• 1 c. crumbled bacon (OMG, I know!!)
• 1 c diced green onion 

What You'll Do

Preheat oven to 500F...Lordy, I didn't realize my oven went past 450!

In a large bowl mix together the olive oil and all of the seasonings. 

Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. 

Dump the potatoes into a  lightly greased 9x13 (I rubbed a bit of olive oil on the dish), leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mix as possible. 

Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy & browned on the outside. 

While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the leftover olive oil/hot sauce mix and stir to coat--I didn't have any left over, so I tossed in a dash of both oil and hot sauce.
 
Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400F...hear your oven sigh with relief.

Top the cooked potatoes with the raw marinated chicken. 
 
In a bowl mix together the cheese, bacon & green onion and top the raw chicken with the cheese mix.  

Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious.  

From Cook Lisa Cook