If you are anything at all like me, you have leftovers in your fridge right now. I always mean well. I am going to eat it for lunch the next day. Or, I’m going to use it in something. Or, someone might just want a small snack later. More often than not, the leftovers are forgotten and my dogs get a tasty treat or Paul the opossum gets a really good meal.

I decided to start looking into recipes where I could use leftover, with maybe a little help with items from my garden, to make a whole new meal. One thing that I always seem to have leftovers of is chicken. Whether it is because we roasted a whole chicken, or there was a lot more in the package of chicken breasts than we thought. Every week we seem to have a Tupperware container in the fridge that is just leftover chicken. With a little bit of research and a lot of experimenting, I have found a way to put that leftover chicken to good use.

My new favorite quick meal is Chicken Broccoli Braid. All I need is 2 cups of leftover cooked chicken, some broccoli, pepper, and herbs like garlic and dill from my garden, and I am in for a treat. What’s even better is that this meal takes less than 10 minutes to pull together and then less than 30 minutes to cook. To me, it makes for the best quick and easy meal after a long day.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chicken
• 1 cup chopped broccoli, chopped
• ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp dill
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 2 pkgs crescent rolls

Directions:

• Roll out the 2 pkgs of crescent rolls side by side and use rolling pin to lightly roll out perforations
• Mix the rest of the ingredients together and spoon along the center of the crescent roll sheet
• Cut into the edges of the crescent sheet and fold over the center filling – “braiding” it
• Bake at 375 for 25-28 minutes until golden brown

Feel free to experiment with it on your own. I think next time I am going to try spinach and mushrooms instead of broccoli and peppers. That might give it a nice twist. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I have.