Super Bowl Snacks: Healthy Eats for the Big Game!

Avid football fan or not, I'm going to bet you have a Super Bowl Party to attend this weekend. And let's be honest, unless you are a fan of the two teams playing, this Sunday is much more a gathering for good food, ranking your favorite commercials during the Super Bowl and of course, watching the Halftime Performance. 

Worried about how you are going to stay on track with healthy alternatives during Gametime? Fear not, My Engineered Nutrition is to the rescue! I've gather my FAVORITE healthy recipes perfect for watching Big Game. You'll be a hit at your Super Bowl Party if you bring one of these dishes...and no one will be the wiser that it's healthy!

APPETIZERS

Brussels Sprout Chips

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Gametime Guacamole

Avocado Lime Dressing

MAINS

Buffalo Chili

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Bison Sliders

BBQ Chicken Pizza on Cauliflower Crust

Slow Cooker Carnitas

Buffalo Chili

Yum

When you hear the word 'chili' what comes to mind? Classic beef and kidney bean chili? Green chicken chili? Texas chili? Turkey chili? My personal go-to: Cincinnati chili? I think you get my point...

Everyone has their own take on chili.

The amazing thing about chili is that A) it is really hard to mess up and B)  there is an almost endless possibility of variations. 

Unless specifically stated as a bowl of vegetable chili, vegetables rarely ever come to mind. I'm going to bet the first thing that comes to mind is meat, followed closely by tomatoes and level of spiciness. 

Because this is MY chili - I call the shots. Just to balance out the meat and to make this more hearty without adding beans, I opted to sneak in bell peppers and zucchini (shhhh). Also, as tribute to my hometown chili, I added just a smidgen of cocoa powder. This may sound crazy but it pairs surprisingly well with the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce - think Mexican mole.

If you are having guests over for dinner, or just want a fun and creative way to serve up this chili, instead of serving in a bowl dish it up in bell peppers!

Buffalo Chili

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Servings: approximately 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup zucchini, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 lb ground buffalo
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 chipotle pepper, canned
• 2 tbsp adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1/2 cup beef broth

Directions:

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic, stirring until fragrant and golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper and zucchini, stir and cook until these have sweated out and softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Next, add ground buffalo, cumin, paprika, oregano, ancho chili powder and salt. Brown beef, about 5 minutes, continuing to stir and break up while cooking. 
3. Once the meat has browned, add all remaining ingredients, stirring until well incorporated. Increase heat, bringing chili to a boil. Cover pot, reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 1 hour. 

Special serving note: If you'd like to serve chili stuff in bell peppers, cook chili covered in pot for 30 minutes. Stuff chili into prepared bell peppers and arrange in a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 350°F oven for the remaining 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information (1 cup)

205 calories - 18 g Protein, 12 g Carbohydrates, 9.5 g Fat

Bison Sliders

Yum

These little sliders are so much fun! Burgers aren't exactly an ideal food to serve during a party - they can get messy and are quite a filling meal to eat. If I'm watching a football game or at a cocktail party, I don't want my hands to be a mess from trying to eat a big ol' burger, I'd rather have easy to eat finger foods.

Fear not! These little sliders solve all these problems. These are absolutely perfect to serve during a party. They are an easy 2 bite slider packing a punch of flavor! They aren't overly heavy, as I've ditched the bun and cheese. With the flavors of the bison patty plus sautéed onions and mushrooms you get all the best burger qualities - in a single bite.

Bison Sliders

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 8 sliders

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground buffalo/bison meat
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup sweet yellow onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1.5 tbsp butter
• 1 head of Bibb lettuce
• 8 bamboo skewers (optional but great for presentation!)

Directions: 

1. Start by preparing the silder patties. Mix ground buffalo, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper so that the meat is well seasoned. Form 8 patties, 2 oz each, ensuring they are an even thickness. Set aside at room temperature while you prepare the onions and mushrooms.
2. Thinly slice onion and mushrooms. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, saute onions and mushrooms, about 5 minutes. Season with an additional bit of salt and pepper and remove from heat. 
3. Separate 8 lettuce leaves in preparation for the assembly of the sliders. Set aside.
4. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Cook patties in skillet - these cook very quickly! Because these patties are so small, they should take about 2 minutes per side. 
5. To assemble sliders, place a bison patty on one of the lettuce leaves, top with sautéed onions and mushrooms. You could simply serve like this OR you could get fancy like I did and fold the lettuce around the patty (like an envelope) and secure with a wooden skewer.  

Nutritional Information (1 slider)

130 calories - 12.5 g Protein, 3.2 g Carbohydrates, 7.6 g Fat

Bison Pesto Meatballs with Zucchini Ribbons

Yum

OK. So it may be a stretch to call this a "recipe". I mean, it is so simple and I didn't make everything completely from scratch (gasp!). However, this combination of flavors is just too good not to share. 

The zoodle craze (zucchini noodles, for those not in "the know") has really taken over. I had yet to jump on the zoodle train, merely because I couldn't justify spending $50 on a kitchen tool that could do just one task: spiral slice vegetables. However, the more and more I saw new recipes involving zucchini noodles, the more I really wanted to try them. Enter: my mandoline slicer. 

THIS kitchen tool has many uses, and I find myself using it more and more lately. I set my mandoline to the thinnest setting and sliced my zucchini length-wise. The result were these delicate and elegant zucchini ribbons. The thought of weighing these down with heavy marinara meat sauce seemed just wrong. These noodles needed something lighter and vibrant. Zucchini is a summer squash after all, they needed a summertime flavor profile! 

The pesto still allows their zucchini ribbons to keep their shape, unlike a heavy tomato based sauce which would weigh the ribbons down. The lemon zest really sets this dish apart, in my opinion! It adds an element of brightness and awakens all the flavors. 

This dish is simple, elegant and light - try it tonight!

Bison Pesto Meatballs with Zucchini Ribbons

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes 

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground bison (if you want to make this extra lean use 93/7 ground beef but I highly recommend bison)
• 4 zucchini
• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 oz pesto, pre-made or homemade
• Zest of one lemon
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Prepare your zucchini ribbons. Slice all 4 zucchini length-wise on the thinnest setting of your mandoline. You could also use a spiralizer or in a pinch, you can thinly slice your zucchini.  Once you have your ribbons, thinly slice your asparagus into 1" pieces (not with the mandoline), cutting the thicker parts in half length-wise. 
2. Heat your cast iron (or metal) skillet over medium heat.
3. Mix together bison and 1/3 of pesto. Form into 12 meatballs.
4. Evenly space meatballs in hot skillet. Brown for about 2 minutes each side, turning until all sides are cooked and a nice crust has formed. 
5. While meatballs are cooking, sauté garlic in the olive oil in a separate pan over medium heat until garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and asparagus and toss. Cook for another 2 minutes. Add remaining pesto and mix thoroughly. Turn off heat to skillet. 
6. Zest lemon over the vegetables and lightly toss. Plate your zucchini mixture and top with meatballs and additional lemon zest, if desired. 

Nutritional info (1 serving = 1/4 of vegetables and 3 meatballs)

370 Calories - 28 g Protein, 12 g Carbs, 23 g Fat

*This may seem to be high in fat but these are healthy fats! Remember, we need to be sure to include enough in our diets. This is a great meal option for when you are eating low carb for a day.