Vege-Chicken Broccoli Braid

Vege-Chicken Broccoli Braid fresh out of the oven.

Sheila and I learned this dish from the second greatest potluck hosters in the world after Adventists - the Lutherans.  We worked for several years running a Lutheran intergenerational day care center and were invited to some really nice potlucks with these lovely people. They introduced us to some very interesting Nordic and Teutonic dishes over the years and the Chicken Broccoli Braid was one of our favorites.  Here's Sheila's vegetarian version of the vege-chicken broccoli braid.

Ingredients:

•  2 cans of Loma Linda Chik'n Chunks, Loma Linda Fried Chik'n, Worthington Diced Chik, Worthington Fri-Chik diced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped red or green bell pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese or finely diced Velveeta
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp dried dill weed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 8 oz. tubes of refrigerated crescent roll dough

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl stir together diced vege-chicken, chopped broccoli, chopped peppers, garlic powder and cheese.
2. Stir in 1/2 cup mayo, dill weed, salt and onions. Set chicken/broccoli mixture aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350°
4. On a baking sheet or baking stone, lay out the dough as shown in the photo below. This arrangement uses 1/2 of the chicken/broccoli mixture and one tube of crescent roll dough.  By adding the second tube laid out on a longer baking sheet and using all the mixture you can make one big broccoli braid.
5. Spread the vege-chicken/broccoli/cheese mixture down the length of the dough as shown and fold the triangles over the mixture as shown in the series of pictures below and press the edges together.
6. Bake until brown on top and bubbling a bit. To get a crispy brown top, brush the top with butter or olive oil just before the top turns brown (optional), then bake until golden brown.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve piping hot on a long serving tray or wooded cutting board with a sharp knife. Cut the braid into slices or let everyone slice it themselves. This thing is amazingly delicious. You will utterly impress everyone with this beautiful potluck dish. Of course, people will expect you to bring it to all the potlucks. And that's not a bad thing. You can make it on Friday, wrap it up in plastic wrap and reheat it in the morning before church. 

© 2016 by Tom King

 Lay out the dough like so.

Add the chicken/broccoli mixture down the center.

Fold the "wings" over the dough mixture

Fold to the bottom and press the edges together

Ready for the oven!