Football Night at 179

My husband is a sport fanatic. Well...maybe not "sports" but a football and basketball fanatic. He could tell you who the NFL MVP was in 1987, the style jersey the team was wearing that year, and a whole list of other facts. In 1987 I was more concerned with brushing the tail of my favorite My Little Pony.

For the most part I don't mind hanging out and watching football. (We root for the Giants and Notre Dame in our house) Mostly I sit and play with recipe binders or read a magazine. Last night I completely passed out. One of my favorite parts is when they do the intro of the teams and their faces pop up and they say their name and what school they are from. I go through and say yes or no if I think they are cute. Seth likes that game too.

Of course on occasion we have special food for football night. Like grilled vegetable muffuletta and spicy pretzels. The muffuletta was tasty but really hard to eat. That thing was probably 4-5 inches tall! Delicious and healthy so it was worth the mess I made eating mine. I make the pretzels often and don't really have a recipe. I just drizzle them with a bit of oil and then shake seasoning on them. I normally do a mixture of garlic salt, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, mustard, and pepper then bake them for a while.

Go Giants. Go Robby Parris! :)

Grilled Vegetable Muffuletta

Source: Rachael Ray

Yield: 4 servings

1 eggplant, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 zucchini, sliced 1/2 inch thick on an angle
1 red bell pepper, quartered lengthwise
1 large portobello mushroom cap
1 red onion, sliced 3/4 inch thick
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper
6 ounces baby spinach
1/3 cup pine nuts (a generous handful)
2/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (a couple generous handfuls)
1 cup store-bought giardiniera (pickled vegetable salad)
1/2 cup pitted green olives
One 8- to 9-inch round loaf crusty bread
1/4 pound deli-sliced provolone cheese

Pre-heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Lightly brush the eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, portobello and red onion with 1/4 cup EVOO; season with salt and pepper. Cover and grill, turning once, until charred, about 6 minutes.

Using a food processor, puree the spinach, pine nuts and Parmigiano Reggiano; season with salt and pepper. With the machine on, drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup EVOO. Transfer the pesto to a bowl; rinse the food processor.

Using the food processor, pulse the giardiniera and olives into a coarse relish.

Slice the top quarter off the bread and scoop out the insides. Spread half the pesto on the inside of the bread, layer with half of the grilled vegetables, then spoon the remaining pesto on top. Fill the bread with the remaining vegetables and top with the provolone. Spread the inside of the bread top with the vegetable relish and set into place. Press down firmly, then cut into wedges.