Q&A: How to Add in Healthy to Your Super Bowl Eats

Students in the Deconstructing Food class display the dishes they made as part of a project to create healthier versions of game-day foods. Bill Collins, assistant teaching professor of nutrition and food studies in the Falk College, leads the class. (Photo by Cathleen O’Hare)

A Super Bowl celebration deserves a super feast of party snacks. Pizza, wings, chips, dip. But how do you indulge, without overindulging?

Bill Collins, assistant teaching professor of nutrition and food studies in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, advises a gameday plan: hydrate, try to make good choices and cook up some healthy substitutes.

Traditional game-day snacks

Ahead of this weekend’s football showdown, Collins’ students in his Deconstructing Food class are exploring that topic this week—how to take your favorite ultimate indulgent snacks from high-calorie to healthy—or healthier.

In this SU News Q&A, Collins shared some tips for Super Bowl cooks and snack planners ahead of the big game. For any media who wish to schedule an interview with Collins, please contact Keith Kobland, associate director of media relations, at kkobland@syr.edu.

What can people do to pace themselves if there are a lot of overindulgent foods at a Super Bowl gathering?

Bill Collins

Drink plenty of water. You’ll stay hydrated and suppress your appetite. Then think about what you may be eating. A percentage of items offered will be healthier than the others. Figure out which ones and stick to those. But it’s the Super Bowl so indulge responsibly.

If you are preparing food, what are some good substitutes (or healthier versions) for some of the high-calorie foods like chicken wings, chips and pizza?

Think about what you are going to make and where is it coming from. If you can make it from scratch, you have control of the ingredients.

• Gently poach some skinless chicken breasts, toss them with Buffalo sauce and serve them in a unique way like on a piece of lettuce or on a pita chip. It has the same flavor profile as the chicken wing.
• Spread hummus on a pizza dough and sprinkle brightly colored vegetables over the top.
• Make your own baked vegetable chips with beets, sweet potato and taro root. If a recipe calls for mayonnaise, use half non-fat Greek yogurt. The flavor profile will change but it’s a healthier alternative.

What if you do overindulge? How might you compensate the following day or week with your diet?

Get in front of the mirror and ask yourself why. You control what enters your body so make good decisions. If you overindulged just try to be smart the next few days, eat healthier and stay hydrated.

The Deconstructing Food class, led by Assistant Teaching Professor Bill Collins in the Falk College, created dishes that elevated favorite game-day snacks from high-calorie to healthy. (Photo by Cathleen O’Hare)

What’s your favorite game-day food and substitute?

I really love a barbequed pulled pork sandwich with a slaw of some sort. In class this week we are trying to take a small amount of pulled pork with a homemade sauce and some fresh Asian slaw and wrap it in a bao bun and put it in a bamboo steamer. The homemade sauce will reduce added sugars and sodium by over 70%. The portion size of the pork—and it’s saturated fats—will also be reduced significantly.

What is your course Deconstructing Food about?

It’s the first semester we are running the class. Prerequisites are that you have taken a class in the Falk kitchens. What we try to do each week is to think about food differently. What’s in it? What is the nutritional analysis? How can we make it healthier and taste above expectations?

The students are dictating what categories of food we are exploring as they are the demographic consuming the food. This week, as requested, we are executing a fresh look at Super Bowl food. We’ll see how we do…