Superbowl Munchies

We're snowed in here in Baltimore and instead of doing my homework, I'm thinking about the superbowl tomorrow. While everyone else was out buying milk and toilet paper, I was out stocking up on brie and cream cheese and pita chips. Tonight, we're eating the brie, and tomorrow we will put together some beer dip and possibly some spinach dip. I also bought spicy sweet potato fries and vegetarian meatballs and veggie ribs so I'm pretty excited. (And a little scared of the ribs.)

I also really want to try deep fried goat cheese. I'm not sure that we have enough oil for this, because that, we did not stock up on, but basically you roll goat cheese into a ball, then you dip it in batter and then you fry it and then you serve it with balsamic vinegar. I'm probably not the person you want to have at your super bowl party....

Anyway, it strikes me that the superbowl is one of those occasions in which it can be very difficult to be a vegetarian. Football is American and About Meat. If you are a vegetarian and hosting a party and want to serve meat but it scares you, try this dip or a meat-in-a-crockpot type of dish. If you want to keep your football party vegetarian and sorta healthy, serve up some barbecue tofu or barbecue mac & cheese (or beer mac & cheese) or a yummy seitan chilli and some tasty sides.

The Superbowl is also a difficult time to be on a diet. It's essentially four hours of eating. If you are currently watching your weight, make sure you bring some healthy snacks for yourself to whatever party you are going to. I like hummus, pita chips, and crudites. Another snack might be smoked almonds or other nuts. Then make sure you sit near your snack food. One tip I read recently is, if you are hosting, serve up bowls with about 30 chips and small ramekins of salsa, and set them all around the room. Each bowl has enough for about two people, and it's not like people can't get more. Additionally, if you are watching your weight, offer to DD for the evening; alcohol, particularly beer, isn't calorie-free and 4-5 beers adds up pretty quickly.

Happy feasting!