Buffalo Chicken Dip & Chip Bites

Super Bowl is almost here! I am counting down the hours to the great splurge! I just love a great excuse to pig out! Super Bowl Sunday has always been a day when I toss any healthy eating aside. I see it as a reward for making it through the first month of the New Year. A month usually filled with many salads and days at the gym holding fast and true to a New Year resolution.  (Besides this year my hubby and I have made it through a month of yoga without anybody cracking up laughing at the other…well, maybe only once or twice, but you would have, too!!)

Super Bowl Sunday is my time to eat fried food freely without any guilt!! Frying is something we never do at the house all year, except for the big game. That’s a cause for celebration in itself! I seem to want it all each year. All the appetizers rolled up into one! That’s how this recipe was created. It came out of my love for two buffalo wing creations-buffalo chicken dip with all the cheesiness and the mess free buffalo chicken balls. I then combined that love with my cravings for chips and dip, cheese sticks, and a veggies tray!! Just imagine all that rolled up into one bite?

Buffalo Chicken Chip and Dip Bite: You can use any boneless chicken (or turkey) you like-thighs, breasts, tenders, or combination of thighs and tenders.

1 lb chicken, cut into cubes-toss in your favorite hot sauce and set in fridge for 30 minutes-1 hour.

Shred 2 carrots (Save the others for snacking) and 1 stalk of celery. (Don’t forget you can chop and freeze remaining celery for quick seasoning.) I use my monkey vegetable peeler to do this job!

In a food processor, grind some of your favorite chips. This will be the coating for the bites. You can always grind some extra and use them for black bean burgers . I like to do two different kinds of chips in two different batches. It depends what chips I have on hand. My favorites are multi-grain tortilla chips (so hubby won’t feel too guilty about the frying) and Doritos (adds not only to the cheesiness but the splurge!!) When done, put the crumbs into two separate bowls.

Into the food processor, pulse the carrots, celery, and marinated chicken until ground. Put mixture into a bowl and add 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp red pepper (adjust to spicy taste). Fold 4 oz room temperature cream cheese into the chicken mixture and mix until well combined. The mixture will be quite wet.

Using moist hands (easier to handle the mixture) and a teaspoon, grab some mixture and wrap around a morsel of your favorite cheese. I like to do some with blue cheese and others with cheddar cheese, but choose your favorite cheese. (You can also skip the cheese, the bites will still be tasty.) Once you have the cheese fully enclosed, roll the bites into the chip crumbs.

Heat oil in a fryer or a pot. I heat oil in my trusty cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  When a drop of chip sizzles, fry the bites in batches for 2 minutes per side (or 3 minutes in deep fryer). You could oven fry these bites, but then you would miss a free fry opportunity! That’s it! If you would like to add some zing, toss the bites into wing sauce. I like to keep mine mess free! Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Don’t forget you can save money on Super Bowl party decorations by cutting pictures from newspapers or magazines and making construction paper cutouts!

Put your TO COOK IS TO CREATE thinking cap on: What chip combinations would be tasty? Be a chip mixer and create a new flavor! What else may be good mixed in the chicken bite? How about crumbled cooked bacon? Jalapenos? Remember it is also a good way to sneak in some veggies when the kids aren’t watching!! What other dipping sauces? A friend of mine really splurges with a sour cream and onion dip! Change it up a bit and form the bites into mini burgers for sliders dressed with all the fixings!

FOOD FUN:  You may think that buffalo wings are the most popular choice for Super Bowl snacking, but actually it is PIZZA. Parade magazine reports that Super Bowl Sunday is the busiest day of the year for pizza deliveries!! One pizza chain claims to sell 1 million pizzas nationwide on Super Bowl Sunday! That’s just one chain! If you were wondering or need some trivia in case the halftime show is slow, the number one topping in the U.S. is pepperoni but the most popular in Europe is…tuna!! (Doesn’t sound good to me and I will eat just about anything!) Finally to prove there are some purists still out there, 37 % of pizza delivery orders are plain cheese. If you do support the biggest selling pizza day of the year, at least steal a piece to make some pizza dip!! Pizza Dip Happy Snacking!!