Chicken Crescent Roll

2 cans crescent rolls

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ bag (1 lb. pkg) frozen chopped spinach leaves

1 can or jar spaghetti sauce (your choice of taste)

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked & shredded

1/2 cup Italian Blend shredded cheese

1/4 cup grated part mozzarella cheese (can use Italian Blend)
Italian seasoning blend

Press the crescent rolls on separate sheets of parchment paper or foil sprayed with oil making sure to seal the seams.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning blend.  I like using Garlic Tuscan by Kingsford.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place the rolls on 2 separate baking dishes.  

Add oil and garlic to a large skillet and cook over low-medium heat, until garlic is slightly golden, about 3 minutes. Be sure to stir it and watch it so that it does not burn.  Add spinach to the skillet and cook over medium-high. Use tongs to toss it. Cook until just wilted, about a minute and a half (you don't want to overcook it or have a lot of liquid released). Add the shredded chicken and spaghetti sauce mixing everything together until everything is coated with the sauce.  

Put half the mixture down the center of both of the crescent dough leaving about 2.5 inches on each side.  Sprinkle the top of the mixture with cheese.  

Bring the sides over the mixture and seal.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  

Sprinkle the center with a little more cheese and return to oven to melt (about 1 minute).  

Comment:  This dish was originally using puff pastry which if you’ve priced it lately, you’ll agree it can be quite expensive.  I used the crescent rolls (store brand) mainly because that is what I had in my refrigerator.  I’m glad I did.  The crescent roll dough ‘melts in your mouth’ with every bite.  Of course, I changed several ingredients, adding here and there, as well as eliminating a couple of the original ingredients until I came up with this dish.  All 3 of my food testers that had the pleasure of trying this dish loved it. So did I!  When working this up I had no idea it would make enough for 2 dishes and only had 1 roll of crescents, so the remaining half was frozen for another day which I feel will be used very soon. This is a must try dish.

Chicken & Spinach Casserole

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small chunks
1 pkg (16 oz) cut leaf spinach
½ red onion sliced & chunked chopped onion

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 8-ounce package cottage cheese
1 cup Cheddar & Pepper Jack shredded cheese
About 1 dozen large garlic croutons, crushed
Cheese for top

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large frying pan heat the oil.  Add chicken and onions.  Cook until chicken is lightly brown and onions are softened.  Add spinach and cook until wilted (5-8 minutes).  Add cottage cheese and cheese.  Pour into 2 qt. casserole dish and bake 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese has melted.  Sprinkle with crushed croutons and sprinkle with enough cheese to very lightly cover croutons.  Bake another 5 minutes or until cheese melts.  Serves 4-6.

Comments:  I found a basic recipe for spinach dip using cottage and feta cheese.  To it I added the chicken and red onions.  Eliminated the feta and lemon juice and added the cheddar & pepper jack blend which has just a small amount of jalapeno peppers.  I also added the croutons and enough cheese for the top to barely hold the croutons in place.  The 2 food testers that had the pleasure of enjoying this wanted more.  It is delicious!

Cauliflower Chicken Cheese Bake

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
1 small head cauliflower, cut into chunks

1/2 red/purple onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup cheddar (shredded, or jack cheese)

Heat large skillet with oil over medium heat. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Saute until brown on both sides, adding onions and cauliflower about halfway through.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add sour cream, blending well. Top with shredded cheddar or jack cheese, turn off heat and cover to allow cheese to melt.  Serve when cheese melts.

Comments:  The original recipe called for regular onions, diced, heavy cream and hot peppers.  I added the cauliflower, used sliced red onions and sour cream instead of heavy cream.  I also eliminated the hot peppers using cheddar & pepper jack blend cheese giving it just a slight touch of heat.  This is so good!  You can make changes such as using broccoli, broccoli and cauliflower or maybe even spinach.  Hum, that sounds like a tasty change.  Also, if you want the cheese slightly browned, instead of putting a lid on, put the whole pan under the broiler until lightly browned.