Selfie Does Super Bowl Snacks
We moved to Austin from Illinois back in 2007. Back in the day – that’s right, 2007 is back in the day for Austin transplants – it was a bit difficult to find a proper sports bar and more importantly, to find a sports bar that played the Chicago Bears (Bear Down, bishes!*). One fateful day in 2011, I was wearing my blue and orange and someone walked past me grabbed by the back collar of my sweater, picked up our beers and said “Yo! You guys! We’re sittin’ over here!”**and that is how we met all of our non-school/non-work friends here a/k/a the Bears’ group.
So, when football season comes to a close, we always celebrate together. However, the Super Bowl also being in early February means I’m either coming off of a stricter-than-normal health kick or I am still on a pretty rigid health kick.*** This means that when we get ready for the Super Bowl potluck, I’m fixin’ to find something that everyone will actually like to it but also, that won’t make me feel awful.**** So, if you’re still looking for a couple of ideas my go-tos are: Skinny 7-Layer Dip & Nana’s Turkey Chili. Happy Super Bowl Sunday & Provecho!
Skinny 7-Layer Dip
Skinny 7-Layer Dip was born of a tradition that my girl Jojo and I had back in law school of grabbing a seven layer dip at Central Market, a bottle of sparkling wine and spending the afternoon kicking back and watching Mad Men.***** Over the years, I realized that while I love seven layer dip, I want to be able to eat a bunch of it and so I aimed to get it a little bit healthier. So, what I did was replace the ground beef with super lean ground turkey (99/1). Then, the refried beans get replaced with (super delicious btw) non-fat refried black beans (central market brand a spicy version!) and finally, the sour cream is replaced with non-fat Greek yogurt. I used to hate Greek yogurt but the non-fat HEB version made me like pretty much all Greek yogurt. The nice thing is that you can keep the cost down or keep the salt down a bit by making the guacamole and taco seasoning (and of course, the beans) from scratch or you can make it incredibly quickly but buying those pre-made. If you buy taco seasoning (or anything that comes in those packets) and you either are gluten-free or having guests who are, make sure to check the ingredients. Tons of those packets contain flour for thickening.
Ingredients
1 lb. 99/1 Ground Turkey
Non-fat refried black beans
1 -2 cups of Non-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt
1-2 Cups Guacamole
2 cups of salsa
Browned with onion and following the directions of a low-sodium taco seasoning dish. If I’m in a rush, I’ll throw this in the fridge. I don’t want it make any of the layers weird and melty. Next, add your beans to the bottom of your dish – because I want to show off the layers, I generally choose a small, square glass dish. Sometimes I switch these two layers but normally, it’s easier to get the Greek yogurt and guacamole layers a little more evenly spread. Add the turkey followed by the Greek yogurt. Next, the guacamole – I normally get the HEB guacamole because it’s a lot better than the stuff that’s just smashed avocados but I’ll also likely to get whatever is cheapest. And if I’m showing off, I’ll make my own. Then add your salsa, followed by your cheese, then tomatoes and finally, your green onions.
Nana Robbie’s Turkey Chili
My favorite chili recipe (courtesy of my Nana, thus, the name) is a turkey chili that is great because it’s full of healthy lean protein, super filling but tastes decadent because of the beer. I obviously need to modify the beer but if you’ve ever tried an Omission, you know it’s just.good.beer.
Ingredients
1 lb of 99/1 ground turkey
1 large can of Diced Tomatoes
2 regular cans of Ro-tel (or any spicy tomato/green chile mix)
1 bottle of Omission IPA or Pale Ale (so good)
2 cloves of garlic
2 Chili Spice packets
2-3 cans of beans (your choice! I suggest kidney or black)
1 lime
Suggested toppings
Low-fat shredded Mexican cheese
Light sour cream
Tortilla chips
Lime wedges
Chop the garlic and add the garlic and turkey to a medium-sized pan. Brown the turkey until cooked through. Then add the tomatoes (diced and Ro-tel), beer and spice packets to a large pot. Make sure to drain any excess grease from the turkey and then add the turkey and garlic to the pot. Stir to mix in the spices and then squeeze the juice from one lime into the chili. Simmer for a half hour, stirring occasionally. Then rinse and add the beans. Simmer until everything is warm. Top with any of your favorite chili toppings or try it Nana Robbie-style with crushed tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream, some cheese and a squeeze of lime!