It's no surprise Super Bowl Sunday ranks as one of the top "eating holidays" of the year - second only to Thanksgiving, in fact - but did you also know it's now one of the year's Top 10 events for grilling?

At a tailgate, sure, but at home? In February?!

'Tis true. According to the folks at Weber, nearly a third of all grill owners in the U.S. (32 percent) will fire them up for the big game.

Grilling. Football. Beer.

It makes perfect sense now that I think about it, no matter the frost on my tongs. And what snack could be more football-friendly than nachos?

Sure to please any game-watching crowd, grilled steak nachos flavored with garlic, chipotle, cumin and a touch of brown sugar take only about 30 minutes to prep. After another 15 or so minutes on the grill, you're ready to dig in.

And since you've already got the grill warmed up, go ahead and cook a few lime-marinated chicken breasts that you can top with a simple avocado, red onion and tomato salsa for a super-quick dish after the nachos are long gone. Both recipes, with photos, are included this week.

But wait, there's more!

Any Super Bowl party worth its weight in calories also needs an assortment of tasty finger foods to keep folks munching all the way through the fourth quarter.

You'll score big points with platters of apricot-glazed pork skewers (also grillable), raspberry chipotle meatballs and panko-breaded coconut shrimp with sweet chili sauce.

Whether you're talking about nachos, chips, veggies, crackers or any number of party snacks, there's one thing many of them have in common.

You probably dip, dunk or drown them in melty cheese.

Everything tastes better with cheese, and most folks are happy with one of those magical mystery substances that you pour or shoot out of a can. Ick. You can do so much better.

The right cheese sauce will complement, not mask, the flavors of your food and can be a sublime experience that will make you want to kick that can to the curb. Better yet, a good homemade cheese sauce is pretty darn easy to make if you follow a few simple guidelines:

The open-face sandwich gets a spicy makeover with this week's recipe for Garlic Chili Cheese Sauce. But let's be honest, it's also a perfect topping for baked nachos and tacos, eggs of any kind, chicken or pork cutlets, grilled flank or skirt steak, baked or mashed potato, steamed fish and vegetables, anything really.

It's liquid love, people; what can't it do?

Not that I want to rain on anyone's parade, but it's also no secret that most of the food we munch on Super Bowl Sunday is not super good for us.

That being the case, you probably don't want to invite Charles Platkin to your party.

As an assistant professor at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City and founder of www.DietDetective.com, good ol' Charlie has calculated the amount of physical activity it would take to burn off many game-day snacks.

It's not a pretty picture.

For instance, you'd have to run the length of 49 football fields to work off just two handfuls of potato chips or do the wave 6,389 times to cancel the caloric effects of six loaded potato skins.

And that's not all, as evidenced by the buzz-kill list to follow. Hey, don't blame the messenger.

Looks like I'll be Vogue-ing all night long. I haven't met a tub of French onion dip yet I couldn't polish off in a single sitting.

Contact writer Steven Keith at dailymailfood...@aol.com or 304-348-1721. You can also friend him on Facebook as "DailyMail FoodGuy," follow him on Twitter as "DMFoodGuy" or read his blog at http://blogs.dailymail.com/foodguy.

RECIPES:

Cheesy Nachos with Steak and Black Beans

1 1/2 lbs. skirt steak, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat and cut into foot-long pieces

Paste:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. chile powder

1 tsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. chipotle chile powder

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Salsa:

2 ripe avocados, diced

3 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup red onion, minced

1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

2-3 pickled jalapeño peppers, minced

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. minced garlic salt

1 bag tortilla chips

1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (8 ounces)

1.    Mix paste ingredients together in a small bowl and spread on both sides of each strip of steak. Let stand at room temperature 15-30 minutes.

2.    In a medium bowl, combine salsa ingredients and season with salt, to taste. To fully incorporate flavors, let salsa sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

3.    Preheat grill to high and cook steak over direct heat, keeping lid closed as much as possible, to desired doneness. (About 4-6 minutes for medium-rare is recommended.) Turn once or twice during cooking, and watch for flare-ups that may burn steak. Remove steak from grill and let rest 3-5 minutes. Cut steak into bite-sized pieces.

4.    Layer tortilla chips, steak, black beans and cheese on a large sheet pan. Place the sheet pan over direct high heat, close the lid, and cook until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from grill and serve immediately with salsa.

Recipe courtesy Weber-Stephen Products LLC.

Raspberry Chipotle Meatballs

1 38-ounce package frozen meatballs (or roll your own)

1 12-ounce bottle raspberry chipotle dipping sauce (or desired flavor)

1.   Brown meatballs according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a slow cooker.

2.   Pour sauce over meatballs. Cover and cook on low 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Apricot Sauce

1 lb. shrimp (peeled and deveined)

1 cup flour

1 egg (lightly beaten)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 cup shredded coconut oil for frying

Sauce:

2 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce

1 Tbsp. apricot preserves

1.    Dredge shrimp in the flour, then dip in egg, then bread crumbs, then coconut.

2.    Heat oil to 350 degrees and fry shrimp in the oil until golden brown, no more than 2 minutes.

3.    Mix together sauce ingredients until well blended and serve with shrimp.

Recipe courtesy http://www.closetcooking.com/.

Garlic Chili Cheese Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 Tbsp. minced garlic (about 5 cloves)

2 Tbsp. flour

1 cup light cream

4-ounce can chopped green chilies

1 1/2 cups grated Jarlsberg cheese

1.    In saucepan, heat olive oil and saute onion with garlic until onion is translucent and garlic begins to brown.  Add flour and cook, stirring on low heat, 2 minutes.

2.    Remove from heat and stir in cream until smooth. Add chilies. (If thinner sauce is desired, stir in 1/4 cup of warm water and blend well.)

3.    Return to low heat, stirring. When thoroughly heated, stir in cheese until melted. Sauce can be made ahead and reheated in microwave on low power, stirring often.

Grilled Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

4 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

2 avocados, diced or mashed

1 tomato, diced

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped

1.    Place chicken in a single layer in large glass baking dish. Add lime juice, olive oil and salt, turning chicken several times to coat well.

2.    In medium-sized serving bowl, combine avocados, tomato, red onion and salt, mixing thoroughly. Stir in cilantro and set aside.

3.    Preheat grill to medium-high heat and cook chicken breasts about 3-4 minutes per side, until they start to brown and are no longer pink in the thickest part of the middle.

4.    Remove from heat, slice into strips and serve topped with avocado salsa.

Recipe courtesy http://www.thescramble.com/.

Apricot-Glazed Pork Kebabs

10-ounce jar apricot preserves

2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs. pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper cooking spray

1.    Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place preserves in a small glass bowl and microwave on high 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Stir in soy sauce, juice and garlic. Place 3/4 cup apricot mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag, reserving remaining apricot mixture. Add pork to bag and seal. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2.    Remove pork from bag and discard marinade. Thread pork evenly onto 16 skewers. Sprinkle pork evenly with salt and black pepper. Set aside 1/4 cup apricot mixture. Place pork on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and baste with half of remaining apricot mixture.

3.    Grill 3 1/2 minutes. Turn pork over, baste with remaining apricot mixture and grill another 3 1/2 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from grill and brush with reserved 1/4 cup apricot mixture.

Recipe courtesy Cooking Light.