Week 4: Super Bowl Recipes

warm kale & parmesan dip   |   chocolate & salted caramel oatmeal bars

In case you hadn’t heard, my beloved Cowboys are not in the Super Bowl. Didn’t even get a wildcard spot. In the NFC East. Blame it on a coaching staff that seems to take pride in poor play calling, Tony Romo, the interception generator, or a defense picked in something like the 172nd round, it’s hard to come back and cheer every week. Or at 8-8, I guess that’d be every other week… 

Even though my team isn’t playing, I’ll still be tuning in to watch with over 100 million viewers on Sunday. I can’t tell you who will win, or whether Bruno Mars will have a wardrobe malfunction (please, just no), but I’d gamble you won’t see the game in person at MetLife Stadium, you will eat abundant amounts of food and you will enjoy some adult beverages. If you are headed to a watch party & can’t decide what to bring, I tested out these recipes last Sunday. It won’t matter if you are cheering for the Broncos or Seahawks, both of these dishes are already winners.

WARM KALE & PARMESAN DIP

When I told hubby what I was making, the conversation went something like this:

Me: I’m making a kale appetizer to test out for the Super Bowl.

Hubby: [Blank stare]

Me: It has bacon & cheese.

Hubby: [Looking relieved] Aaaah, okay. I’ll try that.

This recipe is a take on Southern Living’s Warm Kale & Asiago Dip. Here’s what I did:

5 slices of bacon, chopped

1 bunch of kale, stemmed and finely chopped

2 tablespoons onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup white wine (substitute vegetable stock if you prefer)

8 oz reduced fat cream cheese 

8 oz non-fat greek yogurt, plain

4 oz parmesan cheese, shredded

4 oz fontina cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

black pepper

crostini & crackers to serve

Cook bacon in a large pan. Drain on paper towels. Saute on medium heat the kale, onion & garlic in 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings. Continue cooking until the onions are tender, or about 7 minutes. Next, deglaze the pan with a dry white wine (or veggie stock). 

While the kale is cooking, combine softened cream cheese & greek yogurt. Add in shredded parmesan, fontina, red wine vinegar, crushed pepper & about 3 turns of freshly cracked black pepper. Time saver: Use a food processor to quickly shred the parmesan & fontina. Add kale mixture to cheese & spread into an oven safe dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Top with bacon and serve on crostini or with crackers. 

What better way to introduce someone to kale than adding bacon & cheese?! My hubby tried this and was blown away at how tasty it was. The garlic was a little intense, so you may want to cut the amount in half if you’re watching the game with close talkers… Just a thought.

CHOCOLATE & SALTED CARAMEL OATMEAL BARS

My husband always tells people I am a great cook, but a lousy baker. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve tried making biscuits. Like 5 times. I seriously can’t comprehend how when I combine flour, butter, baking powder, salt, milk using the exact same ingredients & measurements as someone else, the result is wildly different! But the whole point of this blog is to challenge myself, so this was my attempt at baking. I used a recipe from Pinch of Yum. She used caramel candies, so if you can’t find caramel bits at your grocery store (I found mine on the baking aisle), you can follow her steps for preparing the caramel.

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cup instant oats

1/2 cup splenda brown sugar blend

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 package dark chocolate chips

1 package caramel bits

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in melted butter until well mixed & slightly crumbly. Press 3/4 of the dough into a greased 9x13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (or until slightly toasted). 

While crust is baking, melt caramel bits according to instructions, then stir in vanilla and kosher salt.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over the cooked crust, then pour caramel mixture on top, spreading to the edges with a rubber spatula. Crumble the remaining dough mixture on top & bake for about 12-15 minutes. After the bars are fully cooled, cut into squares and enjoy!

Although, I would hardly call this baking, I made these last Sunday. On Monday I forced myself to take these to work (ok, fine… I only took half to work). They are crunchy, gooey, chocolately, caramely goodness. And they were really easy to make!

These are yummy recipes for your Super Bowl watch party or next get together, so I hope you find them delicious & easy to make. Dish up!