Now that I’m kind of, sort of , nearly over my never-ending mystery illness (just can’t shake this sore throat), let’s get back to business.

It’s the Super Bowl next Sunday. Normally, I would be super excited and looking forward to it, but considering I have not watched a single football game (of any kind or level) this year, I’m really not into it. That being said, I do love any excuse for a party and parties must have food and drinks. I can always get behind party planning. This week I’ll be sharing some recipes perfect for your Super Bowl weekend.

Apparently there are people in this world who do not like garlic and don’t care for brie. Fortunately, I don’t know anyone like that, but if you are a little wary of the amount of garlic in this dip, fear not. When garlic is roasted, it gets this more caramelized, almost nutty flavor, which is much more subtle than fresh garlic. If you don’t like brie, well I really can’t help you all that much. Maybe substitute goat cheese? This was the first time I had ever used pimentos in anything or even had them outside of stuffed olives. I was hoping they would give the dip just a little extra kick or something to keep the taste buds happy. Maybe they just got too chopped up in the food processor, but they didn’t really bring much to the overall taste. I think I would stick with real hot sauce or chili powder if a subtle heat.

You could actually serve this dip two different ways. I decided to go with hot, but the end result was a little more fondue-y than I would have like. Once it cooled down about 5 or 10 minutes, it was the perfect consistency. I also tried it before I baked it and it was pretty close to perfect. I should have left it, but I really wanted a hot dip… You can definitely make this ahead of time, but remember to take it out and let it soften. It is brie base, so it will definitely need to soften.

I got the idea for this soup from Frugal Feeding. Cauliflower, broccoli and leeks are all among my favorite vegetables. I used to be fairly neutral towards cauliflower until I started roasting it. I am fairly certain roasting makes just about anything better. If the soup is looking a little more white than green, that might be due to the fact that some a lot of the broccoli disappeared somewhere after roasting and before entering the soup pot.  Roasted broccoli is probably in my top 3 favorite vegetables. It would have been rude not to sample some, and like I said, roasting makes everything better.

I was tempted to try to make this with a melted cheese crouton on top, but since gluten-free bread is so incredibly temperamental, a piece of toast with some Boursin seemed like a much safer bet. Apart from the cheese on the bread, the soup is entirely vegan.  I ended up having a lot of soup left over, so I ended up freezing the rest. I’ll report back on how it serves up after defrosting when I get around to eating it.

I will admit, I’m not a huge salami fan. For some reason, I decided to buy some the other day. Then I had no clue what to do with them. A little Googling later and I found this recipe. It’s fast, easy and makes for a more interesting type of appetizer.

It is important to watch these as it gets closer to the end of the cooking time. You have to find the perfect amount of time where they come out crispy. Too long and they will burn and be inedible, too short and the middles will be sort of chewy. If you get the timing right, they will come out perfectly. I love mustard, but I will admit I might have been a little over zealous here. I added a tablespoon of Greek yogurt to tone it down a bit. I am sure sour cream or mayonnaise would work just as well.

You could whip this up in less than five minutes. Tapenade is a great appetizer. It is wonderful for dipping veggies and is also great on crackers or bread. I actually made this tapenade not as an appetizer (even thought that’s what we used the leftovers for), but to put on chicken that I baked in the oven. It was also delicious. It is a pretty versatile spread. don’t like a lot of olive oil or overly oily dipping sauces, so I went a little light on the oil. You can add as much or as little you feel necessary.

This is another super easy appetizer, BUT it does need a couple of days forward planning. I first had this at a Christmas tree decorating party when I was living in Hungary and I loved it. I will admit cream cheese kind of weirds me out (what is it…?), but I am willing to overlook that for these.

The jalapeños are kind of sweet, still a little spicy and absolutely delicious. The cream cheese provides a smooth and creamy neutral base that brings out the flavor of the candied jalapeño and helps things from getting too hot. I would personally recommend serving these on garlic bagel chips. When I lived in Hungary, I used the 7 Day Bread Chips. They were bite-sized and perfect for this appetizer. I served these on Glutino Parmesan Garlic Bagel Chips. They worked really well, but they have a tendency to break into a million pieces just when you look at them. I have yet to get a box that was not half-broken, but they are still super tasty and they make a great gluten-free substitute for bagel chips. Just be gentle with them. The only other thing to note, make sure you are using regular jalapeños when you sugar these. I accidentally used HOT jalapeños and while still tasty, there was a lot of heat that snuck up after the fact.

I often say that there are certain things that I could eat for every meal and I would never get sick of them. Brussels sprouts are one of those things. I love them. I am actually pretty close to finding a way to incorporate them into every meal as well. Dessert is the only holdout.

Another great thing about these b. sprouts is how easy they are. With all the parties and events that occur this time of year, it is a good idea to have some easy,  fail proof appetizers in mind if you have any last-minute guests or parties. There are probably a million different ways you could adapt this recipe as well. I was super tempted to add in some Sriracha with the aioli, but I decided to keep it simple.

Let’s talk about leftovers. They just never seem to go away. Thanks to a nifty turkey curry, all of our turkey is gone, but we still have a ton of other things left. Our sweet potatoes seem to be multiplying in the fridge. We made a great horseradish sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving. The horseradish gave the potatoes a little bite that went perfectly with the blue cheese and balsamic onions. Any sweet potatoes will work though. Overall the combination of flavors were perfect. Tortillas are a really great tool for transforming leftovers. Using the sweet potatoes in a quesadilla not only was a great way to use up your leftovers, but it makes for a quick lunch or an easy appetizer to share.

These pizzas have been floating around Pinterest and other sites for a while now. I’ve been wanting to make them since I first saw them, but I couldn’t find round zucchini. Well my luck changed at last Sunday’s farmers’ market. I found round zucchini.

If you could describe a vegetable as ‘cute’, I would definitely describe these round zucchini as cute. If you can’t find round zucchini, fear not! Regular zucchini will work just as well, just make sure to cut it lengthwise or at a slight angle to make sure you have a lot of flat surface to work with. You could also slice regular zucchini in ‘coins’, which would give you perfect bite sized pizzas.

I was able to get six ‘slices’ of pizza out of one zucchini. I made three different kinds of pizza; olive, onion and everything which was olive and onion with a slice of salami. Onion was definitely my favorite.

Zucchini Pizzas

• 1 round zucchini, sliced
• 1 cup pasta sauce of choice (I used a delicious arrabiata sauce)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or dried oregano
• shredded cheese
• toppings of choice (I used olives, onions and salami)

1. Heat broiler to high. Make sure that there is an oven rack about 5 inches away from the broiler.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil. Place sliced zucchini on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Mix together pasta sauce, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Top each slice of zucchini with a heaping spoonful of sauce. Add more sauce as needed to completely cover each slice.
4. Top zucchini with a sprinkling of shredded cheese and toppings of your choice.
5. Place baking sheet in the oven and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.