Spectacular Snacks for Super Sunday!

Super Bowl time is a fun time to get together with friends and family and root for your favorite team, the team you have in the football pool, or just for the love of the game. It’s fun to look forward to your favorite Super Bowl fare of nachos and big sandwiches, but sometimes it’s also fun to just mix it up a bit.

Usually, by the end of January, regardless of whether it’s been fair weather, or cold and snowy, most people have had enough of the dark mornings and late afternoons, baarren trees, dull gray lawn and the cold. Holiday lights, the warm glow of candles, and the coziness of feeling like you’re hibernating until spring is really nice and warm, but even that gets old after a while.

Why not decorate the house with lighter, brighter colors – maybe with an island theme? Think of your favorite summertime beverage or look for some calypso music or your favorite summertime tunes while waiting for the game to start. Choose a menu that has some bright and sharp flavors that can conjure up some feelings that spring/summer is right around the corner.

My sister-in-law is Asian. She cooks a mean lasagna, a delicious chicken soup and pot pie and great spaghetti and meatballs – but her egg rolls, spring & summer rolls and Chinese chicken cabbage salad are to die for.

Here is my rendition of Vietnamese summer rolls and dipping sauces along with a few other recipes that puts a twist on usual Super Bowl fare and gives a taste of warmer, brighter days to come!

Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Ingredients:
24 medium shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled, deveined and cooked
4 ounces dried rice stick noodles or rice vermicelli
16 (8-1/2-inch) round rice paper wrappers
1 cup or so of baby carrots cut into match sticks (2” x ¼ )
1 bunch fresh mint – chopped small
Fresh cilantro sprigs – chopped small
1 medium English cucumber, peeled and cut into 2” x ¼ sizes
Baby romaine lettuce leaves shredded
Sweet chili or peanut sauce

Directions:
Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain. Slice the shrimp in half, length-wise. Have all ingredients prepped, chopped and in prep bowls. Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 2-3 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 3 or 4 shrimp halves, a small amount of carrot sticks, cucumbers, mint, cilantro, vermicelli and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
As far as dipping sauces, you can either buy a sweet chili dipping sauce such as Blue Dragon Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce, some bottles are even made it with mango also, or something called Blue Dragon Vietnamese Dipping Sauce – Nuoc Cham which is a classic Vietnamese fish sauce with fresh chili, sliced carrots and garlic. You can also purchase a peanut sauce in the same section of your grocery store. Or you can try these recipes:

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons fish sauce
1/8 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
Thinly sliced carrots

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar carrots and chili sauce

Peanut Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1/3 cup of hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of chili paste
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup of chopped roasted peanuts or Skippy extra chunky peanut butter

Directions:
In small sauce pan over medium heat, lightly brown garlic in oil, then add hoisin sauce, fish sauce, sugar, chili paste and simmer for 15 sec. Stir in chicken stock, add peanuts and let cool.

Grilled Shrimp with Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce
The roasted pineapple & habanero sauce is a dipping sauce comprised of roasted pineapples, mangoes and the robust flavor of habanero peppers combined for a tropical sauce with subtle heat. This sauce is by Robert Rothschild Farm. I found it in a gourmet kitchen shop, but it is also sold in Costco (they actually use it on cream cheese spread crackers). You can even order it on-line.

Ingredients:
Large or extra-large shrimp, cleaned & deveined – allow for approximately 3-4 shrimp per person
1/4 cup olive oil – or a bit more if there is a large quantity of shrimp
1 clove garlic, minced
Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce or a sweet/spicy sauce to your liking

Directions:
Add minced garlic to the Olive Oil and cook in microwave for 25 seconds. Coat Shrimp with the Olive oil and garlic mixture and let sit until ready to grill. Heat grill to medium high and grill shrimp until they turn pink and lose their translucent color – about 2 minutes or so per side. Remove from grill and coat with about a tablespoon or more (depending upon your tolerance to spicy heat) of the sauce and chill.

Skewered Chicken
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced chicken tenders – allow for about 2 per person
Salt & pepper to season
Wood skewers

For the marinade – the amounts may need to be increased based on how many chicken tenders are to be made
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil

Directions:
Soak the amount of skewers needed for at least an hour prior to grilling. Chicken should be thin enough that no pounding is necessary. Season each piece with a little salt and pepper. Add all marinade ingredients together and only marinate the chicken for a short while (lime juice or any citrus juice will break down chicken or fish if marinated too long leaving the chicken or fish “mealy”), not longer than 30 minutes. Just prior to grilling, put the chicken pieces on the skewers and grill at medium heat for just 2-3 minutes on each side – keep an eye on this because cooking too long will result in dried out chicken, cooking too short equals under cooked chicken. Dip chicken into barbeque sauce, or honey mustard or the sauces listed above for the summer rolls.