Game Day

GO BRONCOS! Sorry, I couldn’t stop myself (I tried, I promise) but I’m a LONG TIME Broncos fan and can not contain my excitement for their return to the Superbowl or my pride in the team for keeping it together while Peyton Manning dealt with his injury. As much as anything, I’m blown away by his commitment and determination and would love to see him rewarded with the superbowl championship.

As a sports fan, I’m always thrilled about championship games. Not only are they exciting, they’re a lot of fun, whether your team has made it all the way or not.

You could make a case for it being funner if your team doesn’t make it – more relaxing, at least.

As a foodie, I love the chance to celebrate big events like this with food and usually spend days thinking of what I’ll make. It’s all part of the fun and excitement.

Chobani has a TON of delicious recipe ideas for Superbowl Sunday – of course, they’re wonderful the rest of the year, too. Click through the link and you’ll see what I mean.

Inspired by their passion for Superbowl snacks, I plan to use Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt in a few of my own Superbowl delicacies.

I love using Chobani Greek Yogurt in a lot of things, year-round. Their Vanilla Greek Yogurt, Coconut (!!!!), and their Honey are each crazy good in smoothies. Every single flavor is also delicious served as Yogurt Parfaits (granola in the bottom of the glass, topped with yogurt, then finished off with fruit and chia seeds).

Greek Yogurt can be substituted beautifully for sour cream and even mayonnaise in many recipes. Below are a few tips for the process:

• In cold/uncooked recipes, simply use the same amount of plain Greek Yogurt as you’d use sour cream or mayo.
• I’m ALL about the extra zip that Greek Yogurt brings to the party (what’d you expect from someone who names their food blog domain Buttermilk Press??). If you want a more subtle flavor, you might need to adjust the other ingredients.
• When replacing one ingredient with another, always taste as you go – that holds true for any ingredients, of course.
• You can EVEN replace buttermilk (gasp!) in some recipes with yogurt. Greek Yogurt is pretty thick, though, so thinning it a little with milk beforehand is a good idea. Just look for the consistency of buttermilk.

{More About Greek Yogurt Below the Recipe…}

Cilantro Yogurt Dip

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups Chobani plain Greek-style yogurt
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients.
2. Chill until ready to use.

Ideas for Using Chobani Greek Yogurt on Super Bowl Sunday:

When having people over for an event – whether it’s Super Bowl Sunday, Christmas, a birthday, or a summer cookout, it’s always thoughtful (and downright kind) to have options for everyone. For example, there should be something just as fabulous and exciting for the non-meat eater as there is for the meat eaters. There should be options for those who can’t eat (or even simply choose not to eat) wheat/gluten. It only takes a little extra thought and it can mean the world to someone.

• If you’re having burgers, be sure to provide large leaves of lettuce for those who want to skip the bun.
• Have black bean burgers for the non-meat eaters in the crowd (or for people who may like meat just fine but, like me, simply want a black bean burger sometimes). There are even a precious few frozen black bean burgers on the market that are gluten free.
• For that matter, there are even meatless “chicken wings,” “corn dogs,” and other fun-shaped foods. Having a vegetarian daughter has taught me that you can always find plenty of fun things for those who choose not to eat “anything that had a face.”
• The main thing is variety – make sure there’s a little something for everyone.

Use Greek Yogurt in Place of Sour Cream in Your Favorite Spinach Dip

More Ideas for Super Bowl Sunday:

• Naturally, you’ll want to have your BRONCOS plates and napkins out. Okay, okay, maybe you’ll just want to have Super Bowl napkins – I’ll forgive you. If you want either team (the good guys or the Panthers), check a Party Outlet type store. Or, you could simply grab several sets of napkins in the colors of the teams playing.
• Replace sour cream with Greek Yogurt in your favorite spinach dip and serve it in a hollowed out bread “bowl” – surround it with mini vegetables for an extra pretty display.
• Make your own Ranch Dressing – using Greek Yogurt in place of the sour cream (I love the Hidden Valley Ranch envelope seasonings for this) and use to dip chicken wings, “buffalo cauliflower” (roasted cauliflower coated in wing sauce), chips, or veggies.
• Wedge Salads are also a fun item to have on your Super Bowl buffet. Iceberg lettuce is uncommonly inexpensive and pairs like a dream with Ranch Dressing made with Greek Yogurt. Simply cut a couple of heads (the number depends upon the number of guests, of course) of iceberg lettuce into wedges and arrange on a platter. Drizzle with your dressing, then top with any combination of finely chopped cucumber, chives, green onions, crumbled bacon, or finely chopped tomatoes or peppers.  In the wedge salad pictured above, I roasted some cherry tomatoes and combined them with bacon and the Greek Ranch Dressing (recipe below). You could also crumble some Blue Cheese or feta on top of wedge salads for even more flavor. Wedge salads are, like, 10 times more delicious than you expect them to be. Each and every time. For whatever reason, they’re fun to eat, too. And did I mention how cheap iceberg lettuce is?

Greek Ranch Dressing for Dips or Salads

Combine all ingredients and chill. Perfect for wedge salads, tossed salads, chicken wings, or even for drizzling on pizza.

Don’t forget to check out Chobani’s  delicious recipe ideas for Super Bowl Sunday… and GO BRONCOS!!!