Chicken Broccoli Ring

This is a Pampered Chef recipe, and it is sooo good!  It's probably my second-favorite recipe I've posted. The Chicken Crescent Pockets is my first. Oh, wait... maybe it's Debbie's Chili Beans. =D
Hard decision!

• 2 c. chicken, cooked and chopped
• 1 c. broccoli, chopped (I used 2 c. cooked broccoli)
• ½ c. red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, pressed (I used 1/2 t. garlic powder)
• 4 oz. (1 c.) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I also added 4 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded)
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ c. mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. dill mix (I left this out, but a friend said she used Pampered Chef mix)
• 2 8-oz packages refrigerated crescent rolls

►After cooking chicken and broccoli, preheat oven to 375º.
Dice red pepper, shred pepper jack cheese.  (I use the block cheese as it is more moist).
Mix all ingredients together.  The mayonnaise helps hold the mixture together, but you can't taste it in the recipe.
►Unroll the crescent dough; separate into triangles.  Arrange triangles in a circle on a pizza pan with the wide ends toward the center of the pan, overlapping each other.  It will look like a large sun with the points hanging half off the pan.  ☼
There should be a 5 or 6 inch opening in the center.  Spoon the chicken-broccoli mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle.  Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough.  (Filling will not be completely covered).  If you like, brush a beaten egg on top to make it shiny.
Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.

Rebekah has a new camera -- better than mine, so I'll just have to make this again, won't I???
The pic of the Taco Ring was soooo much better!  I do believe it's my best food picture ever!

►I made the filling exactly as I wrote above, but since my family really likes broccoli, I doubled the whole filling part of the recipe (1st 6 ingredients), and we had a one-dish meal.  I wanted to put some filling in the middle of the ring (w/out the mayo), as well as save out some without red peppers for my son.
We had enough leftovers for about 3 people, and then my mother- and father-in-law came by.  He doesn't like broccoli, but my MIL does, so we gave her some, and she loved it!

Taco Ring!

This is so awesome!  My husband saw this recipe in a magazine.  It had a picture, so he showed me and thought I'd like to make it.  =D
I'd also seen it awhile back at A Joyful Chaos.  

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 package (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix
• 1 c. (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 T. water* (I omitted - see explanation below)
• 2 8-oz packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 medium green bell pepper (optional)
• 1 c. salsa (optional)
• 3 c. lettuce, shredded (we used more -- ¾ a head)
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• ¼ c. onion, chopped
• ½ c. pitted ripe olives (very optional! blech)
• sour cream

►Preheat oven to 375°.  Brown the ground beef, then drain.  The directions say to add in the taco seasoning mix, cheese, and 2 T. water.
Instead, I cooked the beef and seasoning in the pan according to the taco seasoning directions, and since it was still moist from the water called for on the package, I omitted the 2T. water.  I added the cheese, and stirred to get it melted.  The cheese sort of helps hold the meat together.
►Unroll the crescent dough; separate into triangles.  Arrange triangles in a circle on a pizza pan with the wide ends toward the center of the pan, overlapping each other.  It will look like a large sun with the points hanging half off the pan.  ☼
There should be a 5 or 6 inch opening in the center.  Spoon the meat mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle.  Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough.  (Filling will not be completely covered).  Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
(I didn't do this next part -- I just made more salad to put into the center.)
►Cut off the top of the bell pepper.  Discard top, membrane, and seeds.  Fill pepper with the salsa.
►Shred lettuce, and dice tomato and onions.  Slice the olives.  Place the bell pepper in the center of the taco ring, and arrange other salad items around the green pepper.
►Click here for the picture that was in the magazine - it has the green pepper.  (ahem!  I think my pic was better.  =)

I didn't have an extra pan (that wasn't hot) to slide the taco ring onto, so I placed a saucer in the ring before adding the salad items, so they wouldn't get too hot.  Add more cheese if you like.  Top each serving with sour cream.

I did at least try 2 slices of olive. Still blech. ☺
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