Happy Wednesday!  I thought I better get my act together for the big game on Sunday and give you a nice looking round up of ideas that you can make for the party excuse of the year.  Today is the day.  Whether you have family and friends over for the big game or you are hitting the pavement and going somewhere to watch the game – you can’t go empty handed.  I have some super easy recipes for you to prepare and add a few calories to the belly.

Yes folks, most of these ideas are not super healthy…. but remember everything in moderation so enjoy the game.  Do note, these recipe ideas are not restricted to the Super Bowl, you may feel the sudden urge to just make these on any random day or night and that is perfectly normal.

Panko Crusted Onion Rings

A crispy onion ring done in the oven... I love these!

Rosemary Grilled Shrimp

Simple, quick and a great 2nd Quarter snack for the game

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwich

A little bit more effort but mostly on the time front. Serve this up at half time with Kelly Clarkson singing in the background and you will be remembered forever.

Brown Bag Oven Fries

Make these.... make these! Create some fun dips for them as well. Spicy ketchup, maybe a dill cream cheese dip or even a jalapeno cheese dip.

Closet Cooking – Pizza Dip

Kevin from closet cooking delivers this pizza dip that almost makes me want to run to the kitchen and make this for breakfast. I have never seen such an amazing piece of work. Put the phone down folks - you will not need to order pizza on Sunday.

Baked Chicken Wing in Spicy Glaze

You honestly didn't think you would get through a zesty round up post of the super bowl without a chicken wing. Chicken wings are a must have and for this type of event you need lots of napkins and you have to make a big mess on your hands and face. Just saying this is a great 1st quarter snack to get the blood pumping.

Kevin’s Jalapeno Poppers

Back to Kevin's closet for a little heat. These poppers look amazing and I do agree with him saying to make a lot as they will disappear.

A little Sweet Treat(s)

I want to toot my horn a little bit with this next brownie.  Yesterday I was notified that I earned a prestigious placement award with StumbleUpon.  The chocolate brownies below were ranked in the top 10 posts of the year all over the internet.  Pretty cool for a bald guy.  All total over 1 million people have looked over these chocolate morsels.  Try them for the big game and let me know what you think.

Yes Yes - these damn brownies again but I have to tell you - they are pretty yummy!

OK…. the super bowl round up is complete.  Let me know which recipe you are going to try for Sunday.  I will talk to you on Friday.  Have a great Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Monday to you!  Did you watch the Super Bowl game last night?  It was a really great game, very enjoyable, lot of action, good commercials and the team I was cheering for won!  Whooo Hooo go Packers.

Speaking of commercials though, Did everyone see the doritos commercial last night?  Oh my, when I saw this commercial I thought I might actually have peed my pants slightly it was so funny.  Have a look and tell me what your favorite commercial was if you were able to watch the game.

Now onto the food.  I have been seeing kale chips around the blog world for a while now and finally thought I should give them a try.  I have had kale before and enjoyed it, I love potato chips and pretty much anything that dips into ketchup so I thought what the heck – let’s give it a go.  Out side of a little prep work, these fellas are pretty easy to whip out as a snack, side dish or just by themselves.

I served them with a little spicy ketchup and some baked tilapia fillets crusted in multi grain breadcrumbs….. YUM

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of Kale
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ketchup
• 1 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
• 8 Dashes Hot sauce

Method

• Wash and rinse the kale really well.



• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Dry kale and ensure the leafs are not wet, as this will cause them to steam and not achieve the desired crunch



• Place  them in the oven for 8-10 minutes ( until they are brown and crunchy on the edges.
• Combine the ketchup, mayo and hot sauce together ( mix well )
• Dip in your spicy ketchup creation.



• ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: One positive thing to note with the kale chips.  I had put them in a little too early ahead of the fish and sweet potato fries being complete but they held their crisp texture and were delicious even if they were not hot hot.

If you have not already done so, I suggest you try kale chips this week.  They are really tasty and a fun treat to eat.  I am thinking I could even sneak them by zesty junior because of the fun crunch.  I will let you know how I get along with that one.  Have a great start to your week and I will touch base with you on Wednesday.

Oh and by the way, I forgot my camera last night for the super bowl party but the food was sensational as always as Zesty in laws.  Homemade salsa and nachos to start, some sauteed shrimp, grilled scampi, oven baked chicken wings with soy and ginger, slow cooked chipolte  pork ribs and beef ribs done in the smoker for 12 hours…. oh YES – you read that right.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Remember a while back we were doing Help the Student event, and I received this guest post from Jenny at Picky Palate?  Well I had to bring this one back because when I actually made these I thought I was never going to stop raving about them.  Then I thought to myself, wouldn’t this be a HUGE idea for a super bowl party.  They are different, delicious and down right simple to prepare.

This turkey burger has minimal ingredients with massive flavor.  You may have to shop around to find the right slider buns of your choice.  My only piece of advice is to try and find a bun that is not tough and hard to bite through.  You know what I mean right?  Sometimes you get rolls that you feel like you are chewing on the sole of your shoe.  With those you will have a problem keeping the burger in tact.  A fresh soft roll is the way to go.

Hope you try Jenny’s  little sliders.

I cooked these burgers right on the stove top in a large skillet.  Was just too lazy to fire up the grill.  By all means, grill them if you’d rather. If you are a feta fan, beware…you could quite possibly eat many of these

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 Cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 Cup sun-dried tomatoes, jarred in olive oil
• 1/2 Cup fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
• Pinch of Kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and Lawry’s Garlic Salt with Parsley
• Baby hamburger buns or dinner rolls, split and warmed
• 2 Cups fresh baby spinach leaves

Sun-Dried Tomato Mayonnaise

• 1 Cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, packed in olive oil, drained

Method

1. Heat oil into a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Place turkey, feta, sun dried tomato, spinach and seasonings into a mixing bowl.
3. Mix until just combined.  Form 1/4 Cup little patty’s and place onto a cookie sheet.
4. Once all are formed, place batches in hot skillet.
5. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Place mayonnaise and tomatoes into a bowl; mix to combine.
7. Spread over insides of warm rolls.
8. Layer bottom roll with spinach and the burger.
9. Close with top roll and eat

Makes about 12 little sliders

Zesty Tip: To speed things up – feel free to make these ahead of time and let them sit in your fridge.  You could prep them the night before and then you can cook them off once you get home.  If you want to reheat them, I like to add a little drop of water on the burger before putting it in the microwave.

Freestyle Variation: Some people may not have access to sun dried tomatoes or kosher salt and garlic salt with parsley.  It is OK if you are missing those ingredients as the burgers will still turn out and taste great.  Don’t be disappointed if you find a recipe and you do not have all the ingredients – stay positive and improvise.

Alright, I am outta here but remember this.  It is Friday so keep smiling.  Enjoy the big game on Sunday if you like football and if not…. just eat lots.  Be on the lookout for my article in the upcoming release of the G! Magazine.  It is titled: Ad Hoc Dining: Don’t think about it – just eat it! such my style.  Have a great weekend.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Before we get to today’s post….  I need to make an announcement relating to the blog in general.  It seems like we are having host issues and virus issues when using Internet Explorer to view the blog, at least on some versions of IE.  I am presently working on that and hopefully we should be up and running on a new host in a couple of days.  Also with a new and improved design.

For this week leading up to Super Bowl in Dallas, I wanted to share a few fun recipes for you and your friends to try for the BIG GAME.  They will not be over the top cool, but I think they will give you a different outlook on how BIG game football food can taste.  Go big or stay home!

So a few weeks back I was watching the food network … of course right… and took note of a fun grilled shrimp recipe with a hint of lime and red pepper flakes in the base of the marinade and then you skewer it with rosemary leaves.  I thought to myself… genius!  With that said, I thought I would give it a try.

There is not much too the marinade but the choice ingredients make for a very succulent shrimp.

Ingredients

• 16-20 Jumbo Shrimp ( Tails removed and deveined  )
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1/2 Tsp. Red pepper flakes
• Fresh rosemary
• Chives
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Preheat your grill to high ( 400 Degrees)
2. Prepare your marinade by adding the oil, lime juice, red pepper flakes in a bowl
3. Take the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and toss them in the marinade for a few  minutes while the grill is heating up.
4. With the rosemary leaves, remove some of the sprigs off to create a place for the shrimp, then gently slide the shrimp onto the branch.  repeat the process until complete.
5. Once the grill is ready to go, pop them on the grill and watch them closely.  These guys will cook quickly so give them a turn after about 1 minute.  They will turn pink once they are complete but you DO NOT want them over cooked.
6. Sprinkle with a hint of chives.
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking shrimp over high heat, they tend to curl up which is normal.  To keep them from creating too much of a coil, place the rosemary skewer almost lengthwise to keep them on the straight and narrow.

So there you have appetizer one of SUPER BOWL week.  I will be back on Wednesday for some more ideas on how you can have your own tailgate party at your house.  Talk soon and meanwhile I will continue working on the upgrade of zesty to make it better for you.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday! Did anyone watch the super bowl? What did you think of it? I thought it was a pretty good game as far as entertainment went. I didn’t really have a favorite team playing so I was somewhat non biased as to who I was hoping to win. The only thing I was really hoping for is the “FOOD“.

Let’s just say that Zesty In-law delivers yet again.  It seems like time after time zesty in law delivers amazing food and it really doesn’t even matter if the TV is on for me.  Lats night’s line up was no different.  You can sum this up as MAN FOOD night.  Boy was it good.  Around 11:00 pm when I left to come home I could barely waddle my way out to the car.

Menu

• Pulled Pork Sliders on homemade rolls
• Fresh baked beans
• Pork Side Ribs from the Grill
• Beef Ribs with Brandy, Molasses and Coffee ( Check out the size of these things )

I was so excited to see what was on the menu and I knew I would not be disappointed.  The flavors of the food was amazing.  You cannot beat the grill no matter if it is snowing out or not.  I was really impressed with the pulled pork…. delicious and I am pretty sure I could have had 10 little sandwiches.  I stopped at 3 just so I would not look like a total PIG.

I have a couple of big announcements to make this week so stay tuned as one of them may be related to Valentine’s day.  Have a great Monday and be safe.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty