It’s hard to admit, but I’m a little jealous of Ufford’s Twenty Reasons To Hate The Redskins post and everyone else that gets to have the fiery-hot irrational hate against rival playoff teams this weekend. Sure, there are nerves and weak stomachs to temper the hate, but the laser-focused hate that comes out during the playoffs is to experience a maniacal giddiness that has no place outside of the sports world. Fans who don’t have teams in the playoffs will politely say watching the games without stress is freeing, that they can just relax and enjoy the games. It’s a lie. No matter who wins, you have a reason from sometime back in your club’s history to hate each and every other team. Even the Texans have been around long enough to be annoying in their own way (David Carr, actual Texans in Houston). Without a team in the playoffs, I’m stuck with this ball of nebulous dislike and disdain.
Rationalization sets in and you spend your during the games thinking of not who you want to win, but who you can live with winning. Seahawks? If they win now, will their fans finally shut up about Super Bowl XL? Bengals? Nick Lachey Super Fan for weeks. Atlanta? A win for popped collars everywhere. Broncos or Ravens? Green Bay ? No way. Pats? Well, they just lost the Super Bowl so maybe it’s okay if they win this one. Maybe. Colts? Vikings? Perhaps. I will have to reserve final judgement until after this weekend, because in Los Angeles, a city without a team, it’s easy to separate the wheat from the chaff for which fan base you’re going to be able to live with for the next year.
White Chicken Chili and Deli Chopped Salad On Croutons
Everyone has a chili recipe they’re good at making. That’s what you do for football. You make chili. All meat. All beans and lentils for vegetarians and vegans. Meat and beans. Albert Burneko over at Deadspin posted a pretty good take on why you should be putting beans in chili in his Foodspin column. It’s worth a read, even if I disagree with his use of sriracha.
Me? I make a really good white chicken chili. It’s creamy without being overly rich, hot enough to make you grab for your drink but not breakout in a sweat, and slightly smoky even though it’s not made over a fire. The best part is that it comes together in just over an hour, which means you don’t have to spend five to six hours smacking people across their knuckles with your wooden spoon each time they try to lift off the lid of your stockpot.
But as I said, everyone has their own best chili recipe. Feel free to add your chili recipes in the comments so we can argue navy beans versus kidney beans and ground beef versus short ribs instead of talking about Rex Ryan’s tattoo (which quite frankly, I find adorable).
Today’s Super Bowl Recipe Month special post includes a salad recipe I especially like for large gatherings, because it’s salad without having to mess with bowls and forks. Full of meat and cheese? Or course, but it’s still salad and on a day of eating chili, grilled brats, dips and chips, a salad is a welcome sight in any form.
To the recipes!
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