By Lucia Schnitzer, October 2014
Football season is here and the fans are excited! Then you have those fans who are really, really excited and take football to another dimension. I on the other hand look forward to hanging around the table, indulging in great food, great conversation and a great glass of red wine! In doing some research on tailgating, I found that it’s a culture within itself. I also discovered that there’s a class called “Tailgating 101” you can take if you want to be a “Professional Tailgater.” I was amused by my finding, but in reality it’s a really big deal if you enjoy the football fever and lifestyle of a traveling fan.
A tailgate party typically takes place in the parking lot outside the stadium, but you can experience a similar ambiance right on your street by sharing the fun with neighbors and friends. There is nothing unorthodox about hosting a football party in your home. Here are some fun and healthy football treats you can make and indulge in without the guilt while you pick up another bottle of beer or glass of wine.
Edible Football Field
To make this aesthetically appealing appetizer, use guacamole as the playing field with salsa and hummus for the end zones. Pipe on sour cream to mark the yard lines and add some cherry tomato “players,” then make it the star player on your snack table with assorted vegetables and tortilla chips for dipping. Note: Other dip ideas are cheese sauce, bean dip, onion sour cream and spinach dips. Squeeze some lemon juice on the guacamole to keep it from oxidizing and turning brown.
Sweet Potato Turkey Burger Sliders
Ingredients
1.5 pounds ground turkey or lean ground beef, thawed
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1.5 teaspoons steak seasoning
2 large sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3-4 slices cooked turkey bacon
Lettuce torn into small pieces (slider size)
Instructions
Mix ground turkey with garlic salt and steak seasoning. Shape into 8-10 mini patties (about 1⁄4 cup of meat each). Set aside. (Size of your patties depends on the size of sweet potato slices you have, since they will be the bun.) Slice sweet potatoes into 1⁄4- to 1⁄2-inch-thick slices. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven at 400o F for 20-30 minutes (flipping halfway through). You want edges to be slightly crispy. (Stove-top pan frying is another cooking option for the potato slices.) While potatoes are roasting, grill the burgers. Place patties on a well-heated grill, flipping after 3-4 minutes, and cook until cooked through. Assemble burgers, placing a mini burger in between two roasted sweet potato slices. Garnish burgers with lettuce, turkey bacon and mustard (or any other desired toppings).
Lucia Schnitzer and her husband, Ken, own Luci’s Healthy Marketplace in Phoenix. The local coffee shop and marketplace opened in 2009 in Lucia’s honor after her successful battle with breast cancer. She successfully manages her career, her growing family (four children), her personal well-being and the countless demands of the day.
– See more at: https://azjewishlife.com/2014/oct/features/chefs-corner-tailgating-made-healthy-and-fun#sthash.TYH4y4G0.dpuf
