And you know what that means, right? Yes, it means 100+ degree days and feeling like you need a shower every time you leave your house. But it also means that the grill is heating up, too.
So, ok, Ad Man is a brilliant griller. He takes pride in this cooking method in particular and ends up cooking most meals on the weekends. Which, I L-O-V-E for two reasons: 1) becuase the food is damn good and 2) because I can just handle sides (which I am best at anyway). I think a lot of men are big grillers. It's like a primal instinct. "Me man. Me cook meat on grill. You woman. You gather side dishes." [Insert grunting and chest pounding here].
No but seriously, there is major pride in preparing great grilled food. And I'll brag that Ad Man is the best!
But grill masters, you CAN eat healthy! You don't need oodles of sugary bbq sauces, oils and creamy side dishes. Grilling is inherently healthy since there aren't generally lots of oils needed for cooking. Here are some healthy grilling recipes that are tried and true at our house:
Chicken Skewers
Easy-peasy. Grab just about any veggie and cut into one inch pieces. Onions, bell peppers, squash and zucchini work perfectly. Then cut up raw chicken into 1 inch cubes. String the veggies and chicken onto metal or wooden skewers. Ad Man usually marinades the skewers in a zip-loc filled with light soy sauce and a dash of olive oil. Then before he grills, he spices it up with black pepper, garlic powder and a little salt. Grill those babies until the chicken is no longer pink. Then serve over brown rice.
The beauty of this dish? You can marinade in whatever you want! Lime juice and honey. Olive oil and rosemary. Salsa. You name it!
And you don't even have to use meat! Add some pineapple on there and make it a veggie/fruit skewer!
Cedar Plank Salmon
Ok, so this is my all-time fave meal. You can buy these cute little cedar planks at Bed, Bath and Beyond (or other places I'm sure). You just season a piece of salmon with olive oil, lemon and rosemary sprigs (we have rosemary growing in our garden, so fresh is easy for us!) Then put the fish on the cedar plank on the grill. Grill until desired doneness. I like salmon either raw (sushi) or fully cooked, but many eat it medium.
Serve with grilled veggies or brown rice.
Spicy Turkey burgers
If you know me well, you know that I go Ca-Razy for turkey burgers. It's perhaps one of my favorite meals ever. Eating turkey burgers at restaurants can be really misleading in the "healthy for you" department, unfortunately. The meat can be really fatty or prepared with lots of oils, so make sure you know the preparation details before you order it at a restaurant. Anyway, ok, so to make it at home we get extra lean ground turkey (I like Jennie O).
Moosh up the raw ground turkey with chopped onion, garlic, cilantro and a little taco seasoning. Grill it until no longer pink. I use Thomas' whole wheat bagel thins or wheat sandwich thins to cut out on calories vs. a regular bun. Top your burger with avocado, ketchup (sans high fructose corn syrup, which is one of my pet peeves) and lettuce, tomatoes and onion. I always opt for no cheese since for me it doesn't add that much extra to warrant the extra calories and fat.
Serve with fruit. Delish!
If you find that your turkey burgers are on the dry side, try adding a little Worcestershire sauce and/or a light bbq sauce when you smoosh everything together.
A hot grilling app
It has lots of recipes (which you can sort by meat), cooking times, prep tips, grilling tips, grill timer and a grocery list tool. Pretty fabulous!
There are some great recipes that you should try
(I found a few that look healthy):
1) Chicken Breasts with Citrus-Avocado Salsa
2) Kingston Jerk Chicken (just don't eat the chicken skin!)
3) Herb-Crusted Salmon with Lentil Salad
(just use light soy sauce and cut the olive oil in half. You will still have good results!)
I think Ad Man had better cook me up some this weekend!
Nakedly Yours,
M
No comments:
Post a Comment