It’s difficult enough to get picky eaters to stomach vegetables sometimes. Try getting them excited for greens on Super Bowl Sunday. Beer, burgers, carbs, chips, dips, cheese, and sweets are like the popular kids at a Super Bowl gathering. Fresh vegetables are the thick-eyeglasses, suspender-wearing nerds. Of course, there’s always that friend who contributes the token vegetable platter of baby carrots, celery sticks, sliced bell peppers, and cucumbers. Bless that friend. We all gingerly take a few pieces of vegetables and put it on our plates just to give the appearance of eating somewhat healthy. But really, we’re all eyeballing the junk food. My goal is to get you to contribute a gameday-friendly dish with vegetables in it—a dish that even vegetable-averse eaters would venture to taste. Let’s talk cheesy broccoli tots. I’m of the belief that if you prepare vegetables in a way that’s bursting with bold flavors, picky eaters will give it a try. Well, these tots scream flavor. A whole lotta cheddar flavor. The lovely people at Cabot Creamery sent me a selection of their cheeses and challenged me to create a healthy snack with it. Cabot Creamery is owned by over 1,200 dairy farm families located in New York and New England. To say that they produce a big line of cheeses and dairy products is an understatement. I went through their website to do some research and was mesmerized by their hand-rubbed everything bagel cheddar, hand rubbed Tuscan cheddar, and smoky bacon cheddar! I’m already on the lookout for them. Every bite of these tots are infused with the sweet flavors of the White Oak Cheddar from the Legacy Collection. Fresh basil and chopped sun-dried tomatoes give the tots a big flavor zing, too. Are you ready for some chopping and grating? First, throw in the raw almonds from the food processor and chop them until they’re tiny bits. Why almonds in tots? They add a nice texture to the tots, not to mention good fats and protein. Then, you’ll want to make breadcrumbs. I used to buy breadcrumbs until I realized how easy they are to make at home. Just toast the bread and grind it all up. Just like magic: breadcrumbs. Now just chop up all the other veggies, grate the cheese, and we’re good to go! Have your guests dip these cheesy broccoli tots into the cheddar onion sauce, and you’ll change the minds of vegetable naysayers, if only for 10 minutes. The best part? These tots are packed with protein from the cheddar cheese, almonds, and eggs. Your guests won’t believe that the tots are actually healthy!
