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Super Eats
By Amy Selby
The Menu
The Starters
Glazed Walnuts
Pita Wedges and Veggies with Dipping Trio
Main Dishes
Mini Meatball Baguettes
Spicy Chicken Wings
Dessert
Fruit Kabobs
The Starting Lineup
It's a simple fact: Football fans crave finger foods. Our "starting lineup" puts a healthy spin on the expected beer nuts and chips and dip offerings found on many tailgating and Super Bowl menus. Walnuts pack a surprising nutritional punch—they have the highest level of antioxidants, along with pecans and chestnuts, of the tree nut family. They also offer a significant amount of omega-3 essential fatty acids. These nutrients benefit your cardiovascular system. Like most nuts, walnuts are high in fat—although most of it is monounsaturated—so, keep your portion to a third of a cup or one handful.
What's a football party without chips, cheese and salsa? The trouble is you can't find much nutrition in processed white flour dipped in an oil bath. We trim the fat by baking whole wheat pita bread and skipping greasy cheese in favor of an herbed hummus, a basil pesto dipping sauce and a tzatziki sauce.
Substitution in a Pinch
If you can't find Greek-style yogurt for the tzatziki sauce in your supermarket, you can make your own version with plain yogurt. Take 16 oz. of plain yogurt—full fat works best—and place it in a cheesecloth-lined strainer or sieve. Place the sieve over a bowl, and let it drain in a refrigerator for up to four hours. Use the thickened yogurt and follow the rest of the recipe.
Finishing Touch
Fresh herbs and the zest of a lime, orange or lemon presented on top of each dipping sauce will give guests an idea what's in the dish, plus it makes for an inexpensive decorative touch. You can dress up any entree dish with fresh herbs as well.
The Main Event
Our defense against fat- and calorie-laden entrees is sneaking quality proteins and smaller portions into stadium food classics, like meatball subs and chicken wings. Our mini meatball baguettes are easy-to-handle and guests with bigger appetites can pick up more than one, if they like. Rather than using the traditional ground beef and pork sausage for our meatball, our recipe calls for ground chicken or turkey breast.
Finishing Touch
Our chicken wing recipe is not for the faint of heart. You can finish off the dish with a light drizzle of low-fat ranch or blue cheese dressing. Or, if you dare, you can add a drizzle of your favorite buffalo wing sauce.
The Winning Touchdown
A party just isn't a party without something sweet. Our fruit kabobs are pretty to the eye, fun to eat, and they'll satisfy your chocolate craving. Plus, the fruits—and even the dark chocolate—are packed with antioxidants and vitamins. And, who doesn't love eating food on a stick?
Recipes:
Glazed Walnuts
2 cups walnut halves
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preheat a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Add the walnuts, maple syrup and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until syrup is caramelized and nuts are toasted, about 3 minutes. Let cool.
Pita Wedges and Veggies with Dipping Trio
2 packages of whole wheat pita bread
An assortment of baby carrots, cucumbers, celery sticks and sliced red pepper
Toast pita bread and cut into bite-sized wedges and arrange on a platter with vegetables. Place sauces in separate dishes.
Tzatziki Sauce
1 16 oz. of Greek-style yogurt
1 ?hothouse cucumber, unpeeled and seeded
1 teaspoon plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 ?tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 ?tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
Grate the cucumber and toss it with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt; place it in a sieve, and set it over a bowl. Place in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours so the cucumber can drain.
Squeeze as much liquid from the cucumber as you can and transfer to a large bowl. Add the yogurt to the cucumber. Mix in the sour cream, vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. You can serve it immediately, or let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours for the flavors to blend. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Herbed Hummus
2 15.5 oz cans of chick peas, drained
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Strip rosemary from stems and place in a food processor. Add garlic and pulse until finely chopped. Pour in chick peas and process until evenly blended. With the processor running, slowly pour in the oil, scraping the sides as needed. Pour in balsamic vinegar and process until evenly distributed. Pour in water and process into a spreadable consistency. Add more water if needed. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill before serving.
Pesto Dipping Sauce
1 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley tops
1 clove garlic, cracked away from skin
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/3 cup walnut pieces
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a food processor, combine basil, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and juice and grind into a paste. Add nuts and cheese and grind again to combine them into the paste. Pulse in the olive oil until it is combined.
Spicy Chicken Wings
12 whole chicken wings
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
Preheat a grill to medium-high.
Rinse the chicken wings under cold running water and blot dry completely with paper towels. Place the wings in a large bowl and sprinkle with the garlic salt, pepper, cayenne and oregano. Season just 1 side of the wings for mild, or for hotter wings, turn the wings to coat the other side with seasonings and then cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Grill chicken wings, turning once, until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork.
Mini Meatball Baguettes
1 1/2 pound ground chicken breast or ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon grill seasoning, such as Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
4 garlic cloves, minced
10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, add more for a spicier sauce
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1 jar of marinara sauce
2 French bread baguettes
1 pkg. sliced mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 400.
For the meatballs, combine the meat, grill seasoning, fennel seeds, 2 of the minced garlic cloves and basil in a mixing bowl. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the mixture and mix it in. Pinch off a tablespoon amount and roll into meatballs (makes 20 to 22 balls). Place on a greased cookie sheet and into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
In a skillet over medium heat, add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil. When it is hot, add onions and red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Sautee onions until soft and translucent. Add marinara sauce. Cook for 5 minutes and add baked meatballs. Simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Slice French baguettes into 4-inch sections (one loaf makes five sandwiches). Make a horizontal cut in each section, but not all the way through the roll. Remove a small section of bread from the top and bottom of the roll—to make room for the meatballs. Place two meatballs and some sauce in the roll. Top the meatballs with a slice of cheese. Serve warm.
Fruit Kabobs
1 kiwi, peeled
1 large orange, peeled
1/2 cup blueberries
1 cup pineapple chunks
12 strawberries
2 1/2 oz. dark chocolate
wax paper
Cut the kiwi and orange crosswise into 4 rounds, then cut each round into 3 pieces, so you end up with 12 pieces of each fruit. To make the chocolate-dipped strawberries, line a tray or cookie sheet with waxed paper. Break up the chocolate and place over a pot of simmering water. Be sure the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until it is melted. Carefully dip the strawberries into the chocolate and place on the tray. Place the tray in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, so the chocolate can set. To prepare the skewers, put 2 blueberries about 1/3 of the way down the skewer, add a piece of kiwi, a pineapple chunk, a piece of orange, and top with a chocolate dipped strawberry.
Recipes courtesy food.com.
Sippin' On Suds
The Super Bowl is a beer holiday. National statistics show that an additional $11.8 million is spent on beer beginning two weeks before the Super Bowl. You can give your guests some lower calorie options at the bar. Here's the nutritional breakdown of popular brews:
- Amstel Light: 95 calories; 5 g total carbs; 1 g protein
- Budweiser: 145 calories; 10.6 g total carbs; 1.3 g protein
- Bud Light: 110 calories; 6.6 g total carbs; 0.9 g protein
- Bud Select: 99 calories; 3.1 g total carbs; 0.7 g protein
- Coors Light: 102 calories; 5 g total carbs; 0.7 g protein
- Guinness Draught: 126 calories; 10 g total carbs; 1 g protein
- Heineken: 150 calories; 11.5 g total carbs; 1.5 g protein
- Michelob Light: 123 calories; 8.8 g total carbs; 1.4 g protein
- Michelob Ultra: 95 calories; 2.6 g total carbs; 0.6 g protein
- Miller Genuine Draft: 110 calories; 7 g total carbs; 0.8 g protein
- Miller Lite: 96 calories; 3.2 g total carbs; 0.9 g protein
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