By Jeena Ehnstrom
Super Bowl Sunday is approaching fast! College students and peers will be gathering together this coming Sunday afternoon to root for our home team, the New England Patriots.
As we all know, the snacks and drinks are half the fun. And with the help of just a few simple recipes, anyone can throw a great Super Bowl bash right in their common room or off-campus apartment. How do taco salad, Buffalo chicken nachos, pepperoni pizza dip, and rainbow-sherbet punch sound for menu choices? These recipes are sure to impress your guests.
Taco salad is a fun and easy way to be creative and original in your cooking. Once you’ve put together the main ingredients – ground beef or turkey, taco seasoning, crushed Doritos, chopped romaine lettuce, and catalina salad dressing – the rest of the fixings are up to you. These can include shredded cheeses, jalapenos, black olives, diced tomatoes, avocado slices, and cucumbers. The salad is tossed and served in a large bowl with a side of salsa and sour cream as an option.
Last February, some of the girls in Mara Village put together a tasty Buffalo chicken nacho appetizer. Kate Mahony and Erica St. John came up with the dish, which was a huge hit at their party. “I eat Buffalo sauce with everything,” Mahony explained, “and this definitely added a kick to your normal nacho dish.”
The way Mahony and St. John describe it, the recipe is very simple. First, marinate some thin, pan-seared chicken breasts in Buffalo sauce. Then put it in a large oven-safe bowl and add tortilla chips, diced tomatoes, a drizzle of ranch dressing and shredded colby-jack cheese. The bowl only needs to be in a 400-degree oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Depending on your liking, bleu cheese dressing can be served on the side.
Pepperoni pizza dip is always a fan favorite, especially in Russell Towers during last winter’s Super Bowl game. Allisa Laford put together this dip for her friends and roommates and received nothing but compliments. “The ingredients are self-explanatory: pizza sauce, pepperoni, shredded mozzarella cheese and cream cheese and sour cream for the base,” Laford explains. She says that diced green peppers and onions are optional for a topping.
It is a layered dip. The sour cream and cream cheese are whipped together and spread on the bottom of the dish. Then, the pizza sauce is poured over the base, the chopped pepperoni (and peppers and onions) are sprinkled on top and then finished with the topping of cheese. The dish is warmed in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. This dip is best served with tortilla chips for scooping.
Let’s not forget about a party beverage to go along with these tasty snacks. Krysten Cullen of last year’s senior class put together a rainbow-sherbet punch for a gathering in Townhouse 204, and she says it’s both simple to make and great to drink. “In a large punch bowl, add ginger ale, cranberry juice, orange juice and several scoops of rainbow sherbet,” Cullen says. If everyone is over 21, the addition of a flavored vodka gives the drink an extra kick. Cullen’s roommates could not agree more.
Now you have your appetizers and your drinks for the big night. All you need are good friends and die-hard fans to complete your Super Bowl party.