It’s the football season.  Though I do not watch football, I like to binge and binging is a big part of booing or cheering a team.  However, does fan-friendly, sports watching food have to be unhealthy all the time? Well, they have to be bite size, crowd pleasing, quick and easy but unhealthy? Not so much.

Here’s a great healthier, bite size option for cheering fans that takes only minutes to put together.  Whether your team wins or loses, be advised, friends can go nuts over these appetizers.  These nutty, spicy, tangy chicken shells are also great appetizer option for an elegant dinner parties, showers and brunches.

My husband and I are night owls which means we binge as the night progresses.  One of our favorite munching items is peanuts mixed with lemon juice, chopped red onion and green chilies.  Few years ago, while gorging on the mixed peanuts, I was thinking of appetizer options for our next dinner party.  Immediately, my mind was looking for ways to serve these delicious peanuts elegantly, and quickly in bite size portions. I also did not want to go through the hassle of warming or frying anything so the perfect option that came to mind were Phyllo shells (Phyllo shells are available at any large supermarket (Target, Walmart, Kroger, etc.)).  These shells are crispy, thin, airy and very sophisticated.

The next morning I was thinking of ways to improvise the nuts and thought chicken and cilantro will add even greater punch to each bite. The chicken can be prepared few days ahead of time if you are time pressed during the day of the party.  I usually prepare the salad (except for adding the peanuts) 4-5 hours ahead of serving time so that I am not super busy when friends start to arrive.  Making ahead also let’s the different flavors mingle with each other.  I don’t add the peanut ahead of time in fear that the peanuts may lose the crunchiness and make the salad mushy.

When I am ready to serve, I take the salad out of the refrigerator, add in the nuts, scoop a spoon on each of the shells and ready to go.  No heating, no frying, no warming up but still an classy, spicy, scrumptious snack.

Every time I serve these cuties to my friends, they start munching on the suckers right from the serving plate without waiting for me to finish filling all the shells.  By the time, I am done with filling salads on the first serving plate, it’s usually time to get the next batch going.  That’s how nuts people go over these nutty chicken shells.

Whether your team wins or loses the game(I do hope they win), you will come out a winner anytime you serve these. These chic appetizer shells never failed me.  If you decide to give these a try let me know how they turned out for your crowd.

For all my Bengali readers, I am planning on publishing a Bangla version of the recipe from now on.  I must admit that it has been almost 12+ years since I have written a Bangla word let alone typing in Bangla.  I anticipate, there will be many spelling slippages even though it is my native tongue.  Please pardon and bear with me.  আশা করি ক্ষমা সুন্দর দৃষ্টিতে দেখবেন।