Super Bowl offers chance to try tasty, healthy snacks


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It’s that time of the year again. The time when fans gather around the television with loved ones to enjoy one of America’s greatest pastimes — football. Yes, Super Bowl Sunday is upon us.

The team you root for, however, isn’t as important as what you’re eating throughout the game. Let’s face it, sports are much more fun with finger food.

Pizza, wings, chips, dips and beer are staples at any Super Bowl party. Calories don’t count on Super Bowl Sunday, but what about those people who understand their bodies aren’t burning energy by merely watching a sports game? Are they doomed to stick to celery sticks and baby carrots? Not necessarily.

Here are two recipes for the health conscious that don’t sacrifice flavor or fun while still holding their own on the dining table.

Buffalo Cauliflower

All the flavor of Buffalo wings sans chicken, these will please even those who have nightmares of their mother telling them to eat their broccoli and cauliflower or there won’t be any dessert. Adapted from the blog Persnickety Plates.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower

For the batter:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup water

• Dash of Frank’s Wing Sauce (or Frank’s Original Hot Sauce)

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1/4 teaspoon dried onion

For the Buffalo sauce:

• 1/4 cup wing sauce

• 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted

• Pinch of salt

• Chili to taste

 

Preheat the oven to 450 fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with non-stick spray and set aside. Wash your head of cauliflower and cut into pieces.

In a medium bowl, mix together the batter ingredients. It will be fairly thick. Dip each piece of cauliflower into the batter until fully and evenly coated. Place onto the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake for about 15 minutes until the batter just hardens. In a small bowl, mix together the buffalo sauce ingredients.

Once the cauliflower is done, remove from the oven and brush with the Buffalo sauce. Again, fully and evenly coat each piece.

Put back into the oven and bake for a few more minutes, until the sauce has mostly dried and the cauliflower is crispy.

Remove from the oven, let cool and enjoy.

“Cheesecake Factory” Avocado Rolls

These were discovered after eating at the Cheesecake Factory and rushing to Google to find the actual recipe or a close knockoff. The cilantro dipping sauce alone is good enough to use on other foods. This recipe is adapted from the blog Damn Delicious. Full disclosure: Frying the rolls in vegetable oil might kill the “healthy vibe,” so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use olive oil or put them in the oven until they get crispy.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 3 avocados, halved, peeled and seeded

• 1 roma tomato, diced

• 1/4 cup diced red onion

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• Juice of 1 lime

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 8 egg roll wrappers

For the cilantro dipping sauce

• 3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed

• 1/3 cup sour cream

• 1 jalapeno, seeded and deveined (optional)

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 clove garlic

• Juice of 1 lime

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 

To make the cilantro dipping sauce, combine cilantro, sour cream, jalapeno, mayonnaise, garlic and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat.

In a medium bowl, gently mash avocados using a potato masher. Add tomato, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Gently toss to combine.

Working one at a time, place avocado mixture in the center of each wrapper. Bring the bottom edge of the wrapper tightly over the filling, folding in the sides. Continue rolling until the top of the wrapper is reached. Using your finger, rub the edges of the wrapper with water, pressing to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and avocado mixture.

Working in batches, add egg rolls to the Dutch oven and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately with cilantro dipping sauce.