Thursday, September 8, 2011

Ring Around the Veggies!!!

My friend Claire made this yummy dinner for us a while back and I fell in love!! She gave me the recipe and I just got around to trying it last week. This was WAY easier than I had thought it would be to put together, and I had fun making it my own. The basic recipe is from the Pampered Chef and you can see it by clicking on the title of this post, or here ----> Chicken and Broccoli Braid


Here is a picture of the ring before I put it in the oven.  I put it on parchment paper so it would be easier to serve...I hate it when stuff sticks to the cookie sheet!!  All I did was take the triangles from the crescents and overlap all the wide ends in a circle, scoop the filling around the inner circle and then pull the pointy ends over and squish them together in the middle!!! Easy-peasy!!!



Look at how beautiful and golden brown this looks!! It was delicious with the buttery crescents on the outside, and the inside was a delicious mix of cheesy and yummy!!



Here's the recipe as I made it:

1 cup chopped broccoli florets

1 cup chopped carrots

2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
 
2 tsp Dry Ranch Dressing mix
 
1/4 tsp salt

2 pkg (8 oz ) refrigerated crescent dough - NOT the extra fluffy, I used the Stater Bros. cheap ones.


I cooked this at 375 for about 25-28 minutes, I basically just waited for it to get nice and golden brown on the top.

Just so you know, I added carrots to the mix and left out the red peppers. I also, per Claire's recommendation, used a little ranch dressing mix instead of the dill mix in the recipe.  I also used Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise because that's what we keep stocked around here!! I steamed the broccoli and carrots beforehand because Greg and the kids prefer the veggies soft, and I wanted to make this as family-friendly as possible!! You can check out the original recipe for a more sophisticated version, theirs has slivered almonds and an egg wash on it as well...I didn't want to waste the time!!

I absolutely LOVED this meal and will be making it again...although next time I think I'm going to try it with a taco salad theme...meat seasoned for tacos and cheese, maybe beans and a few other things. You could really get creative with this and have some fun!!!


3 comments:

Christa Jeanne said...

Soooo glad you posted this, Diana!!! I've made it before but had lost the recipe. As a sidenote, I HATE mayo and abhor Miracle Whip even more, so I subbed in cream cheese, and it was fabulous! Definitely need to give this one a whirl again.

Christa Jeanne said...

PS: just saw your note about the taco salad theme. I've had it done with an Italian twist before, like lasagna, and it was amazing.

Greg and Diana said...

Ooh Christa, the cream cheese inside sounds delicious!!! And the lasagna idea sounds good too!! There are so many options for this littel meal!! Thanks for sharing!!!