With the 2013 Super Bowl coming up on February 3rd, you may be planning a Super Bowl Party Menu. If so, you probably already have some supplies on hand if you are intending on hosting a get together.
Hopefully you’re considering a variety of offerings that might include some bean based dips you can whip up yourself, or maybe an eggplant dip, or possibly even doing up a homemade healthier pizza option that is easy and FAST to make.
Photo of Make It Now Pizza by Stephanie B-H/Sensory Nutrition ©2013
A little planning ahead will make putting together any Super Bowl Party that much easier.
Below are three recipes we have previously featured at other times, but deserve an encore as they would work great for inclusion in any Super Bowl Party Menu.
You can find the original posts of each of these recipes in the following blog entries Healthy Red Bean Dip, Eggplant Caponata For The Holidays, Make It Now At Home Pizza.
RED BEAN DIP
Yield: 1 lb.
Ingredients:
- 1-16 oz. can of kidney or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 Tbsp. white vinegar (if you want to vary the flavor slightly, use red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, etc.)
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. finely minced onion
- 2 tsp. finely minced fresh parsley
- optional: 1-2 or more tbsp. or to taste of very finely chopped canned or fresh green chilies or jalapeno peppers
Method:
- Mash the kidney beans in a tabletop blender or by hand, being sure to do so in two batches (an immersion blender used in a flat bottom metal bowl can also work).
- Add tomato juice, other vegetable juice or reduced sodium broth–add only enough liquid to reach desired dip consistency.
- Then add all of the: peppers (if used), vinegar, chili powder and cumin and stir until thoroughly blended in. Dip should be quite thick, but mixable. If too thick, gradually add a small amount of additional liquid and keep stirring until proper dip consistency is reached.
- Stir in the onion and parsley.
- Chill if desired, to allow flavors to meld slightly, or serve immediately with vegetable crudities or with low-fat or reduced-fat baked pita chips or baked corn chips, etc.
EGGPLANT CAPONATA
Ingredients:
- 1 medium purple eggplant (about 2 pounds)
- 6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 onion, large, preferably sweet Mayan, Peruvian, or Vidalia, coarsely chopped
- 4 Tbsp.tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 2 Tbsp. capers
- 6 green olives, large, stuffed, sliced
- 6 black olives, large, sliced
- 1 Tbsp. pine nuts (pignolas), toasted, finely chopped
- 2-3 basil leaves, fresh, large, minced fine after cutting chiffonade style
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Peel eggplant and cut into slices 1/2 inch thick; then cut eggplant slices into 1/2 inch cubes.
- In a large, heavy skillet, heat 5 Tbsp. olive oil and saute eggplant until brown. Remove eggplant and set aside.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute garlic and onion. Add tomato sauce, celery, and green pepper; cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, adding water if necessary.
- Return eggplant to skillet; add capers, olives, pine nuts, and basil.
- Heat vinegar and sugar together and pour over all vegetables in skillet. Season with freshly ground pepper; cover and simmer, 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Chill and serve on salad greens or with slices of Italian bread.
MAKE IT NOW HOMEMADE PIZZA
Ingredients:
- 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) in a 2 cup glass measuring cup
- 2 & 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1 Tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus extra flour available)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (white or brownish whole grain)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- additional herbs +/or spices/seasonings as desired (we like to add dried herb seasonings to the pizza dough when we make it)
- 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO )
- chosen tomato paste rich tomato sauce/tomato paste rich spaghetti sauce
- chosen toppings (Note: we pre-cut up and pre-cooked red onions as well as multi-color sweet pepper strips to make assembly of the pizza faster on the day of the even); choose reduced fat cheese options if you choose to use shredded cheese as a topping)
Method:
- Proof the Yeast
- While yeast is proofing, combine all dry ingredients in 5 qt mixer bowl of stand mixer. Once yeast is proofed, add it plus the EVOO to the dry ingredients in the bowl, and slowly start to mix on low speed with mixer. The dough should form a large ball around the mixer paddle and pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it does not do this and is too sticky and is staying on the sides of the bowl, add about 1 Tbsp more flour and finish mixing; dough should then appear to more easily gather together and be a more cohesive mass. Should dough appear to be too wet, add about 1 tsp. more of room temperature water and finish mixing}.
- Into a pizza pan you have sprayed with canola or other desirable cooking spray, place the pizza dough and pat it/stretch it out somewhat evenly inside the pan getting close to the pan circumference all around. Bake for 5 minutes in the 375° preheated oven.
- Remove pan with partially cooked pizza crust from oven. Dough should be slightly colored and it will have visibly risen; place pan on a wire cooling rack.
- Cover surface of dough with chosen tomato sauce/spaghetti sauce as desired spreading it around to within 1/2 inch of edge of crust.
- Add chosen toppings as desired, realizing you can visually section the circle off into wedges and add various toppings on each wedge section as you see fit. Other household members, etc., may wish to participate in this activity.
- Next finish bake pizza off at 375°F/190°C for about 20 minutes or until crust is baked through. Remove pizza pan from oven and place onto wire cooling rack, slide pizza off onto clean cutting board; cut pizza into wedges using pizza wheel or other cutting device you are comfortable using. (Typically, a 12″ size round pizza can easily be cut up into 8 wedges). Serve pizza while warm; and as always, promptly and properly refrigerate any leftovers.