LEWISTON — Can you eat Super Bowl food such as buffalo wings, pizza, chips and dip, and eat healthy too?

You can, said Denise Dill, community cooking educator at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, by making food from scratch and using healthy ingredients, and by avoiding processed food with unhealthy ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil. Dill recommends reading labels before putting food in your grocery cart.

She provided heart-healthy choices and recipes to please a Super Bowl crowd with a spread of good-looking, good-tasting food. Part of healthy choices is limiting how much you eat. Bean dip is healthier than high-fat dip, but it’s not healthy when you eat an entire bowl of it.

Making healthier choices every day — even during the Super Bowl — is important, she said.

For instance, if you’re buying frozen wings, Dill recommends low percentages of saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium: 5 percent or less. If your wings have more than 20 percent of those things, consider making wings from scratch.

Chips and dip

For a healthier version of chips, Dill recommends making whole wheat pita chips from whole wheat pita bread. The pita chips are great with salsa or dip. If you don’t want to make pita chips, at least buy healthier corn chips by reading the food label, Dill said.

Make sure there’s no trans fat in the chips. “Another word for that is partially hydrogenated oils. A lot of times that is in corn chips,” Dill said.

The chips should be made from whole grain. “You want whole corn that doesn’t have the bran or germ taken out,” Dill said. “The first ingredient should say 100 percent whole grain corn or corn meal. And watch the sodium.”

White bean dip

For a chip and vegetable dip, instead of high-fat sour cream or ranch, try a white bean dip.

“The bean dip is high in fiber, which lowers your risk of heart disease, as well as providing other vitamins and minerals,” Dill said.

Her white bean dip uses canned cannellini beans. The label on the bean can says it has zero cholesterol, zero fat but 450 grams of sodium. To get rid of some of that unnecessary salt, rinse the beans with water.

If you can’t part with ranch dip, use low-fat sour cream or dressing, paying attention to the labels, Dill said.

Go easy on cheese

For pizza, Dill recommends making mini-pizzas from whole wheat English muffins, low-sodium pizza or tomato sauce, and fat-free mozzarella cheese. 

“Cheese is mostly fat,” Dill said. “You’re not getting a lot of calcium out of it because it’s fermented.” The fat-free mozzarella will not be as flavorful, she said. If you’re not willing to use fat-free cheese, low-fat is better than regular, Dill said.

Another ingredient in many processed foods is high fructose corn syrup, which is not the same thing as corn syrup, Dill said. The high fructose corn syrup is made through a chemical process and isn’t healthy, she said.

“It doesn’t pass through your body the way regular sugar does,” she said. “They say it may lead to high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and obesity because your body doesn’t digest it.”

It is also empty calories. “Most of the time the food you’re eating that has high fructose corn syrup doesn’t have a lot of vitamins or minerals,” Dill said. “You want to stay away from high fructose corn syrup.”

That’s kind of tough, since it’s in so much food, even bread.

Choose the bread that lists high fructose corn syrup near the bottom of the list of ingredients, which means it has less, Dill said. “Try to find something that has the least amount of it.”

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Heart-healthy Super Bowl food

Popcorn: Made old-school on the stove top, or air popped and lightly coated (olive oil spray) with canola or olive oil, a dash of salt. Can create different flavors by adding herbs: garlic granulates or cayenne pepper or dill or basil.

Whole wheat pita chips: Make great dippers. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Split each of 6 pita breads into 2 round pieces, Cut each circle into wedges and arrange in single layer on cookie sheets. Spray with cooking spray or water and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder. Bake for 8 minutes or until chips are lightly browned and very crisp.

Trail mix: Start with nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds or mixed nuts). Throw in dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries or banana chips. Finish it off with small pretzels and high-fiber cereal such as wheat or bran Chex, oatmeal squares or bran cereal.

Turkey sausages in whole-wheat buns, served with a tossed salad.

Sandwiches made with reduced-fat mayo, mustard, lean meats, topped with plenty of veggies including pepper strips, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and grated carrots.

Sliced raw vegetable platter, including carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, baby tomatoes, cucumbers. Served with a low-fat white bean dip (recipe below) or salsa.

Baked or lower fat chips, served with plain yogurt and salsa, rather than sour cream for dipping.

Celery stick spread, with unsweetened (natural) peanut butter topped with raisins.

Drinks: Diet soda, chilled water, diet lemonade with slices of fresh fruit or small glasses of fresh fruit smoothies. If you like hot drinks try flavored teas, low-calorie hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon or grated orange.

Platter of sliced fresh fruit: kiwi, melon, pineapple, grapes and berries served with natural yogurt.

Homemade sorbet, made up in small glasses from 100 percent pure orange juice, frozen and eaten as dessert.

Penalty-free recipes

White bean dip
Prep time: 5 minutes; 4 servings
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1½ tablespoon water
3 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/8 tsp. salt
1 can (15½ oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (rinsing gets rid of some  sodium)
1½ tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 tsp. pepper

Garnish: ½ tsp. paprika or chopped fresh parsley

For dipping: fresh vegetables such as colorful peppers, broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrots

Directions: To prepare dip, heat olive oil in small saucepan over
medium heat. Sauté garlic, stirring constantly, until garlic just
begins to turn golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let
cool. In food processor or blender, combine garlic-olive oil mixture,
beans and lemon juice. Process until smooth, slowly adding 1-2 tablespoons of water.

Mini pizzas

Prep time, 5 to 7 min; serves 16
16 whole wheat English muffins
1 cup low-sodium pizza sauce (avoid products with partially hydrogenated oils)
16 slices fat-free mozzarella cheese, or any kind of cheese will do
Steamed spinach
Cut
the English muffins in half. Spread sauce over muffin. Place spinach
and cheese over sauce. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes in the oven until the
cheese melts.

Wings with blue cheese dressing

Prep time: 30 minutes; 8 servings (3 pieces each)
Ingredients:
24 chicken drummettes, skinned
1/4 cup bottled hot pepper (cayenne) sauce
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Dressing:

3/4 cup fat-free sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Carrot and celery sticks
Directions:
Remove skin from drumsticks. In a large bowl toss the drumsticks with 2
tablespoons of the hot sauce, 1 teaspoon cider vinegar,
garlic powder and ginger. Arrange drummettes on an unheated rack of
a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 15 to 20 minutes,
or until chicken is tender and no longer pink, turning once.

Drizzle
chicken with remaining 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper sauce and 1
teaspoon cider vinegar.

Meanwhile in a small bowl combine sour cream, blue cheese, green onion, white
wine vinegar, lemon juice and sugar. Serve dressing with chicken
drumsticks, and plenty of carrot and celery sticks.

Bubbly O.J.

Ingredients:
100 percent frozen orange juice (from concentrate)
Plain seltzer water
Directions:
Mix together in a pitcher by taste. Follow the directions on the
package of frozen juice, using seltzer water instead of water. You can
use any 100 percent frozen juice, apple or grape, instead of orange.

Roasted veggie (eggplant) dip/spread
Whisk together in large bowl:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
1/2 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

Add to bowl:
2 lbs. eggplant, washed, peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes
4 red peppers, washed and cut ½-inch pieces
2 large red onions, cut into ½-inch cubes
Toss
to coat. Divide on two baking sheets. Bake until tender, about 35
minutes at 400 degrees. Cool 15 mins. on sheets. Process to coarse
puree (pulse) in two batches. Put in serving bowl. Garnish with chopped
parsley.
Can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill, serve at room temperature.

Denise Dill, community cooking educator for St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, recommends healthy snacks.

Denise Dill, community cooking educator for St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, recommends healthy snacks.