Nutritionist and registered dietitian Katherine Brooking visited the FOX CT kitchen to prepare some Super Bowl snacks that are a little bit healthier than the traditional options.
Below are some recipes from Brooking. For more information, visit www.AppForHealth.com.
Contain the blitz on chips
Potato chips are the most popular snack that’s served at Super Bowl parties. At 150 calories and 9 to 10 grams of fat per serving, potato chips will contribute some 27 billion calories to fans’ diets on game day. To help contain the calories of fried potato chips, look for pita chips or bagel chips instead. These are baked so they’re lower in fat and calories than fried chips and have three grams of protein to help fill you up but not out. I pair them with healthy dips like hummus and black bean dip.
Sack the sour cream
Dips can derail a diet faster than just about any party food. The standard crowd-pleasers may be cheesy or creamy, but they also add more than 100 calories and 10 grams of additional fat per each serving (2 tablespoons). There are better alternatives like white or black bean dips; hummus or substituting plain Greek yogurt for sour cream. A cup of regular sour cream packs in 445 calories and 45 grams of fat compared to a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt, which has about 130 calories and no fat per cup. For each cup you use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, you’ll shave 315 calories and 45 grams of fat from your recipe.
Read option ranch dip
The Super Bowl sidekick to wings and potato chips is ranch dip. But most ranch dip recipes are made with sour cream so they have about 100 calories and 10 grams of fat per 2-tablespoon serving. You can easily make rich, thick and creamy ranch dip with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream to up the filling protein while reducing the saturated fat.
Greek yogurt ranch dip recipe (courtesy of Appetite for Health, makes 2 cups)
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 to 2 teaspoons dried dill
1 ranch dip seasoning packet
1-2 teaspoons onion powder
Put cottage cheese in food processor with steel blade and process about one minute, until cottage cheese is well blended. (It will not be completely smooth.) Add yogurt, dill onion powder, ranch dip seasoning packet. Blend about 30 seconds more, until all ingredients are well combined. Chill several hours before using.
Gridiron guacamole
Guacamole is always a football favorite, and we’ll eat more than 100 million pounds of it on game day. Choose a recipe that calls for vegetables like tomato, onions, corn or peppers for more nutritional oomph. (See recipe below.) Forgo any recipe that calls for adding mayonnaise or sour cream to your avocados because they’re naturally rich and creamy on their own. A serving (2 tablespoons) of most store-bought guacamole has about 120 calories and 10 grams of fat.
Ingredients:
2 ripe medium avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1 large ripe tomato, diced
1⁄4 cup chopped onion
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 large lime or 2 small limes
1⁄2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
In medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Toss well
Maintain chunky consistency and serve immediately.
Beverages to bench
Beer sales from grocery stores and liquor stores leading up to the game equaled some 50 million cases of beer, making beer one of the unofficial food groups of the Super Bowl. The good news is that there are many light and ultra-light options available to make it easier for calorie-conscious consumers to enjoy a few brewskis. You can find some ultra-light beers as low as 55 calories and many varieties of light beer are around 100 calories a bottle. Regular beer has 150 calories per 12 ounces. Drinking distilled spirits will set you back about 100 calories per 1.5 ounce, but that doesn’t include the calories in fruit juice or soda that’s often used to make mixed drinks.
Score with shrimp
Whether they’re frozen or fresh, you can’t go wrong with shrimp appetizers at your party. With just 8 calories each, and a great source of lean protein, make shrimp part of your party planning. You can serve shrimp cocktail, shrimp bruschetta, or keep things simple with the standard shrimp cocktail. Like other tomato-based condiments, cocktail sauce is super low in calories at just 18 calories per tablespoon, so it’s the perfect topper for your jumbo prawns.
Penalty-free pizza
Having an ooey, gooey, cheesy pizza pie is a Super Bowl party pleaser, but you might want to think twice before you grab a slice. Two slices of a traditional 14-inch cheese pizza pie weighs in at 625 calories and 24 grams of fat—and that’s without any meat toppings. The good news is that there is a simple way to slash the calories and pump up the nutrition of pizza — without sacrificing on the flavor. Here’s how: Order an extra-thin crust (whole grain if it’s available); ask for half the cheese and double the veggies. If you do that, you can enjoy a slice for less than 200 calories. In addition, the fiber filled veggies will keep you and your guests satisfied.