Game Day Grub
Football season is upon us and so is the delicious game day grub. Who says that in order to eat for sustainable wellness we have to compromise fun food we love? No one! We can just learn how to alter it for our own particular health goals. I love to entertain and embrace the challenge of making healthy food delicious. (It’s even an added bonus when I impress my guests that don’t traditionally eat gluten or dairy free.) Check out this game day spread that I put together for one of our football festivities.
Air Fried Chicken Wings
Yes, your prayers have been answered! Chicken wings can be made in accordance with sustainable wellness goals. These wings are gluten free, paleo, dairy free, and were not cooked in oil. They are naked (no breading) with all the same great crispiness as traditional fried and/or breaded wings. How is this possible? The air fryer!
Using the air-fryer to “fry” or cook your wings is a great alternative to deep frying, baking, or smoking chicken wings. They taste just like fried chicken wings without the extra oil or gluten. These wings were kept plain and were tossed in salt, pepper, and garlic powder. To add flavor they were served with different dipping sauces such as buffalo sauce and sweet chili sauce. Since I am nightshade free, I chose to have my wings with the vegan avocado ranch dip pictured in the snack platter instead. Aside from the avocado ranch dip being in accordance with my dietary needs, it pairs well with buffalo and sweet chili sauces for our guests to enjoy as well. There’s something for everyone serving chicken wings plain with individual sauces. You and your guests are able to follow their respective diets and dietary choices.
Some more tips for healthier chicken wings include: choose organic, hormone free, and free-range chicken; make your own seasoning mixes, rubs, and sauces; cook the wings to the strictest diet then offer options for everyone else to add flavor.
Sweet Potato Fries with Cinnamon Dipping Sauce
Sweet potatoes are one of my all time favorite foods. They are nutritious, delicious, and versatile. For my spin on traditional French fries, this game day I made baked sweet potato fries with a dairy free cinnamon-honey dipping sauce.
Sweet potato fries can be made in the air fryer or the oven. Both of my double basket air fryers were full with chicken wings so hello oven! These fries were seasoned with only two ingredients: avocado oil and Redmon’s Real salt. Yup! That’s it. The simple seasoning works well when serving the fries with a dipping sauce.
If a dipping sauce is not your jam then feel free to spice up those fries! You can even serve yucca fries with chicken wings on game day for a more savory flavor profile. Check out my recipe for baked yucca fries!
Some more tips for healthier “fries”: choose organic produce; make your own sauces and seasoning mixes; and when in doubt – opt out!
Snack Platter with Avocado Ranch Dip
Wings are almost always served with celery and carrots. Therefore, how could I make a snack platter without them! Accompanying those two organic veggies is organic seedless cucumber, paleo plantain chips from Artisan Tropic, and gluten free sea salt almond crackers from Simple Mills.
The green dip is my home-made vegan avocado ranch dip. It is a hit every time I make it! Even those who eat dairy and traditional ranch dressing LOVE it! Since there is a little something for everyone, pictured is a black bean hummus that I did not eat, but served for our guests. I cheated a little as that one was store bought. Still, it is gluten and dairy free so this platter remained allergen free for me!
Some more tips for healthier snack platters: choose organic produce; make conscious choices about chips and crackers; read the labels thoroughly for store bought items; choose items with the least amount of ingredients; know what is actually in the ingredient label; and when in doubt – opt out!
There are so many combinations and alterations we can make to stay on track. Sometimes all we need is a little more knowledge, information, or inspiration. Hopefully these alterations inspired you and your next game day feast.
May you be well – Dominique