Chicken & Broccoli Braid

OK -- if MY kids will ask for seconds (even THIRDS tonight!) of a meal, I think it's worth sharing :) Nice & easy meal.

First off you need some pizza dough. I have about 3 different recipes I bounce around and use (depending on how much time I have & what type of crust I'm craving). Now I was taught to make bread -- really MAKE bread. No machines, all hands and this is the *only* way I do it. When I had a bread machine (broken and in the junk yard now) I sometimes would use it until the DOUGH stage, so that can be done if you want to save the time... otherwise, make your own dough -- OH SO WORTH IT.


Here's what you need for the braid:
2 cups cooked chicken breast (2-3 of them), chopped.
1 cup broccoli, chopped (uncooked - the fresh stuff!)
1/2 cup red pepper, diced
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dried dill weed (optional, but yummy)
1/4 tsp salt.

**Mix all these ingredients in a bowl. Roll out your pizza dough into a rectangle, then make cuts down both sides about 3cm apart?? Maybe 6 or 7 cuts per side (don't you love my recipes! LOL). Don't' start quite at the top or bottom of the dough, you're going to want to fold that in a bit to keep the ends from "leaking". take your mixture and pour (Ok, so it doesn't really "pour") it down the center of your rectangle. Braid. Put it on a pan and bake it at 350degrees for 30-45 minutes. You can brush it with some melted butter if you like a nice brown top.

Slice it and serve with a yummy salad :)

ENJOY.