Superbowl Sunday Eats

Superbowl Sunday is a great excuse to eat lots of my favorite comfort food.  This year, we kept it pretty simple; I made a hot spinach and artichoke dip, white bean hummus, chicken and white bean chili and lemon yogurt cake and our friends brought guacamole and cupcakes from Yummy Cupcakes (including bacon pancake and honey bbq, very interesting....).  Everything I made was actually relatively healthy; I used organic ingredients, fresh vegetables, and low fat versions of ingredients when possible.  It was my first time making hot spinach and artichoke dip and it was definitely a hit! As for drinks, of course the drink of choice was lots of beer (and a little bit of Blanton's)

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip Recipe:

• Drain 1 16 oz bag of organic frozen spinach and 1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts, chopped (both from Trader Joes). *Note: frozen spinach is actually better than regular spinach, because you have to blanche regular spinach, meaning more time + 1 more pot and strainer to clean
• Grate 1 cup of reduced fat Irish cheddar (also from Trader Joes) and 1 cup of parmigiano reggiano
• Mince 1 clove of garlic.  Optional: a couple of TB of chopped onions
• Over medium heat in a 2 quart Le Creuset round french oven (I rarely use this size, but it's perfect for this dish), heat 1/2 - 1 TB of butter, then saute onions until soft and garlic for the last minute
• Add 1/2 cup of low fat sour cream, 1/2 cup of low fat mayonnaise (I even used vegan mayonnaise as that was all that was in my fridge), 3 TB of low fat cream cheese, 1 tsp of worcestershire sauce, squeeze of lemon juice, the parmigiano reggiano, and stir it all together
• Add the spinach, artichokes, and half the cheddar and stir until well-combined.  If it's too dense, add a little more sour cream or mayonnaise.  You can also add heavy cream or whole milk, which I didn't have.  Season with freshly ground pepper, 1 tsp of chili flakes (to taste), 1/2 tsp of garlic powder.  Top with the remaining cheddar cheese
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I did the first half covered, second half uncovered, until it is nice and bubbly
• Serve with tortilla chips

Chicken and White Bean Chili (adapted from Ina Garten's recipe):

• Chop up 3 onions and saute over medium low heat in a 5 quart Le Creuset oval oven for about 15 minutes
• Meanwhile, chop 4 bell peppers and mince 2-3 cloves of garlic
• Add the garlic to the pot for a minute and then add the bell peppers and saute for about 3 minutes
• Season with 1 TB of chili powder, 2 tsp of cumin, 2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of red chili flakes, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper and saute for another 2 minutes
• Add 1 can of rinsed cannellini beans, 2 28 oz cans of tomatoes, 2 chipotle peppers in adobo with a few tsp of adobo sauce, and 1/4 cup of chopped basil
• Bring to a boil and simmer for at least half an hour
• I cheat and use all the white meat, cubed, from a rotisserie chicken for the chicken part of this recipe.  You can also bake some chicken to add into the chili
• Add the chicken and simmer for at least half an hour.  I think the chili is even better if you can let it chill overnight
• Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips and more shredded cheese