Happy Football Friday All Y’all! Since most of the country is hotter than jalapeño’s armpit outside we will tackle some cool treats for hot games this weekend. Did you save last weeks cheese balls and meat balls? At the rate some of these teams are playing we don’t need anymore reasons to get heated up. As always any of the recipes below can be made with plant based meat and cheese. Y’all enjoy week number two of games!
Tasty Tailgate Cool Treats for Hot Games
Tailgating Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 pound 8 ounces of pasta any type
- 2 ½ cups grilled chicken breast chopped
- 1 cup of celery chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- ¾ cup blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing
- ½ cup hot sauce use more if you like it really spicy!
- 1 ½ cups blue cheese crumbled
Directions:
- Boil a pot of water. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain the pasta, and rinse with cold water until pasta is cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pasta, celery, onion, chicken, blue cheese dressing and hot sauce. Mix thoroughly.
- Transfer to a serving dish.
- Top the pasta with crumbled blue cheese.
- Serve cold.
Fruit Salsa
Ingredients:
- 1 pound strawberries, diced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
- 1 medium Bosc pear, cored and diced
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 lime, juiced or 1/4 cup diced
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh mint, cut into ribbons
- Combine one cup diced strawberries with 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl.
- Let sit on the counter at room temperature for about 2 hours until the juices start to come out.
- Puree until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the diced apples, pear, remaining strawberries and blueberries. Add lime juice and strawberry puree, coating all ingredients.
- Stir in fresh mint, and serve with crackers.
BLT Pasta Salad
For the Dressing:
- ¾ cup mayo (I prefer to use olive oil mayo to cut some fat & calories)
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper — optional
For the Salad:
- 8 oz spiral pasta
- 3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce (or 10-oz package pre-cut romaine lettuce)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes — halved
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cup bacon bits
- Prepare the dressing by stirring together mayo, sour cream, milk, pepper, salt, garlic powder and crushed red pepper (if using) until smooth and well-combined. Set aside.
- Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
- When finished cooking, drain well and transfer to a large salad bowl.
- Prepare bacon according to package instructions. Let cool. Chop into pieces.
- Add chopped lettuce, grape tomatoes, cheddar cheese, bacon pieces, and your prepared dressing.
- Toss/stir very well, until ingredients are well-combined.
- Enjoy!
Candy Corn
Ingredients:
- 2-3 bags of candy corn (in stores every where right now)
- peanuts (optional)
Directions:
- Pour in bowl
- Eat by the handful
Sparkling Spiked Peach Lemonade
Since it is peach season this seems like an appropriate beverage for tailgating this week.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup Water
- 3 Large Peaches
- 6 Cups Sparkling Water or Club Soda
- 1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1 1/2 Cups Vodka
- Ice
Directions:
- In a small pot, combine the sugar and 1 cup of water.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Remove the skins from 2 of the peaches: Cut an “X” in the skin on the bottom of each one.
- Drop in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the peaches to an ice bath, and peel when cool enough to handle.
- Slice each peeled peach in half and remove the pits.
- Cut the peaches into cubes, place in a blender or food processor fitted with the blade attachment, and process until puréed. Pour into a large pitcher.
- Add the cooled simple syrup, sparkling water, lemon juice, and vodka.
- Stir to combine. Add ice and stir again.
- Cut the remaining peach into thin slices.
- Stir a few of the slices into the lemonade and use the others to garnish the glasses.
On the Menu
We hope you have a great week one of college football. Enjoy all the tasty meaty, chees, and sweet balls. Let us know which is your favorite. Next week we will have another tasty tailgate treat for you and your crew to enjoy.
