Hey Y’all! How are you doing? Even though its already Wednesday night, lets back it up to Super Bowl Sunday when Alexie and I headed over to my parents house for a relaxing evening of food, drinks, laughing, and football watching. The commercials were good, the game was great, the company was awesome, and the food was fantastic! So in today’s post I want to take you through a few of the yummy highlights…. (PS just so we are clear, I can’t take credit for any of these, they were all chef mama bear and papa bear’s)

1. Barbecue Chicken Bites.

Basically healthier boneless BBQ chicken wings. We all loved the chicken but weren’t so sure about the dipping sauce. The sauce was much hotter than we had all anticipated.

4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs {They used only the white meat to further reduce the calories and fat} 18-ounce bottle barbecue sauce 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 cup panko breadcrumbs Kosher salt and ground black pepper For the dressing: 1 cup sour cream 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapenos 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder Hot sauce, to taste Kosher salt and ground black pepper. TRIM any visible fat from the chicken thighs, then cut each into 2-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl and stir in 1 cup of the barbecue sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. WHEN ready to cook, melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the smoked paprika and breadcrumbs and cook until the breadcrumbs are toasted, stirring continuously, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. MAKE dressing: In a small bowl whisk together the sour cream, jalapenos, chives, garlic powder and onion powder. Season with hot sauce, salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside. HEAT broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and mist with cooking spray.USE a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the barbecue sauce, allowing any extra sauce to drain away. Discard the excess marinade. Arrange the chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheet. BROIL chicken about 6 inches from the heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until browned and cooked through. Brush the remaining barbecue sauce over the tops of the chicken bites, then sprinkle all over with the toasted crumbs. Serve with the dressing for dipping.

2. Baked Parmesan Zucchini

This was probably my favorite of the night. I don’t know what to compare it to but I promise it was really good. And according to chef papa bear it was super easy to make.

Ingredients – 4 zucchini, quartered lengthwise, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves. Instructions – Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside. In a small bowl, combine Parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste. Place zucchini onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan mixture. Place into oven and bake until tender, about 15 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until the crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired. This recipe is from damndelicious.net.

3. Cilantro Lime Shrimp

If you like shrimp, lime, and cilantro, you will like this. It had me going back for seconds which is saying a lot since I am typically a plain jane, just give me boiled shrimp kind of girl so I was pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp, 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, 5 garlic cloves, crushed, 2 tablespoons lime juice (from 1 medium lime), 3 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro. Directions: Season the shrimp with cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the oil to the pan, then add half of the shrimp. Cook them undisturbed for about 2 minutes. Turn the shrimp over and cook until opaque throughout, about 1 minute.  Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and the remaining shrimp to the pan and cook, undisturbed, for about 2 minutes. Turn the shrimp over, add the garlic, and cook until the shrimp is opaque throughout, about 1 minute.{cooking time was a bit longer than this, maybe a total of 7-8minutes according to chef papa bear} Return the first batch of shrimp to the skillet, mix well so that the garlic is evenly incorporated and remove the pan from the heat. Squeeze the lime juice over all the shrimp. Add the cilantro, toss well, and serve. This recipe is from skinnytaste.com.

There you have it, the yummies of my Super Bowl Sunday. What were your Super Bowl favorites? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Eating!