Super Bowl Sunday is almost here.  Time for an overabundance of food, drink, commercials and football.  If you’re looking for some foodspiration, here are some of my favorite snickety-snacks.  Can’t wait to whip up some of these yummy treats – clearly I like buffalo sauce.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup buffalo sauce
• Light Ranch (for dipping)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, Panko, egg, garlic and onion powder and green onions; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/4-to-1 1/2-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.
• Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes, or until all sides are browned.
• Place meatballs into a slow cooker. Add buffalo sauce and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours.
• Serve immediately, with ranch dressing, if desired.

 

Veggie Patch Pizza

Ingredients:

• 2 cans Crescent Rolls
• 16 oz. cream cheese. softened
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
• Assorted Veggie Toppings (your faves):
  • 1 cup broccoli, cauliflower
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • zucchini, mushrooms, green onions, cucumbers

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spread Crescent rolls onto large cookie sheet and press edges.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes then cool.
• Mix cream cheese, mayo and ranch dressing.
• Spread onto cooled rolls.
• Sprinkle veggies on top, one at a time.
• Sprinkle cheese on top.
• Cut into squares before serving.

 

Buffalo Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

Cheese Sauce:

• 1/3 cup nonfat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon skim milk
• 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Buffalo Cauliflower:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 8 cups cauliflower florets (from about 1 medium head)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the cheese sauce: Whisk together the sour cream, blue cheese, milk, mayonnaise, 1/8 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes
• For the Buffalo cauliflower: Meanwhile, microwave the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl on high until melted. Whisk in the hot sauce and lemon juice and set aside.
• Mix 1/2 cup water, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower and toss until well coated. Spread the cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until beginning to brown and just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Whisk the hot sauce mixture again, drizzle over the cauliflower and toss with tongs to coat. Roast the cauliflower until the sauce is bubbling and browned around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes more. Serve hot with the cheese sauce.

 

Greek Layer Dip

Ingredients:

Instructions:

• Combine the feta*, cream cheese and yogurt in the bowl of a food processor and process until combined and smooth. Spread the cheese mixture evenly across the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Top this cheesy layer with the hummus and spread across evenly. (*I reserved a tiny bit of the feta to sprinkle over the top at the end)
• In a medium bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, oregano, mustard, salt and pepper and stir until well combined. Add the diced cucumbers, tomatoes and olives to the oil mixture and stir until well combined. Spread the tomato/cucumber mixture over the top of the hummus in the pie plate and serve.

Spinach Artichoke Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz.) package softened cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 tubes of crescent roll dough
• shredded mozzarella (optional, though in my opinion completely necessary)

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly spray mini muffin tins with baking spray.
• Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well.  Once you’ve combined the dip, set aside.
• Roll your crescent roll dough out onto a large cutting board/work surface.  Working with half of the dough at time (4 triangles), pinch all of the creases together so that you’re left with one big piece of dough.
• Using a pizza slicer or a knife, cut the dough into 12 roughly even squares.
• Press each of the dough squares into a mini muffin tin.
• Using a teaspoon, fill each cup with the spinach artichoke mixture.
• Sprinkle each one with a little shredded mozzarella- who doesn’t love more cheese!
• Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.
• Wait a couple minutes until they’re cool enough to touch, then use a teaspoon to get them out of the cups and onto the plate of your choice or into your mouth.