I love to grill. I can do it all year round where I live without much issue. One of my favorite meats to grill is the Grilled Chicken recipe I have shared with you before. It is so good!
I also love a great grilled steak and here is my favorite recipe for that too!
Now that it is hot out, my grill is fired up often. I just hate heating up the house. Plus, it is so much healthier than cooking in grease and fat!
Here are some fabulous tips from Mareya Ibrahim, Celebrity Chef, Author, The Fit Foodie and founder of eatcleaner.com. She has a new book out that you may want to check out too! EAT LIKE YOU GIVE A FORK: The Real Dish on Eating to Thrive
Tips and Tricks for Grilling Gals (or Guys)
Start with the right stuff:
Guys love their tools and we know why. It’s fun to play with gadgets!
Basics you need: Grill, cutting boards, marinating tray, tongs, spatula, metal skewers and grilling planks.
Marinate raw meats in a tray separate from serving. Applewood and cedar grilling planks and grill papers infuse food with a wonderful smoky flavor and add moisture and a delicious aroma. The same goes for different types of wood chips. Metal skewers make individual serving sizes easy and fun to eat.
Play it safe:
Dirty, greasy grills with a buildup of meat juices and grease are potential store houses of food borne illnesses. Even scarier, grilling creates smoke laden with potentially carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which end up on the surface (as ash) of whatever you’re cooking, and can be absorbed back into your food.
A good grill brush with a stainless steel head gets rid of stubborn meat, cheese and vegetables. Also, make sure to use separate cutting boards for raw meats and veggies to prevent cross contamination.
Be cleanup conscious:
Something about grilling outside makes us want to never do the dishes again. Instead of plates, spread a ‘tablecloth’ of butcher paper for easy cleanup. Marinate foods in Ziploc bags. Cook individual portions in aluminum to make serving easy, and to prevent food from falling through the grill cracks.
Instead of needing silverware, opt for finger-food size portions (Think sliders and skewers vs. Big, sloppy servings). Corn on the cob and watermelon slices make great side dishes and are easy to serve, simply.
Make it full of fit flavor:
Let your bbq take you on a culinary journey with the right flavors. Dry spice rubs incorporating citrus, black garlic, ginger, turmeric and peppers are great for building immunity, gut health and lowering inflammation. Adding fresh rosemary to your seasonings can cancel out the potentially carcinogenic effects of the grill.
Using different types of oils and vinegars – like macadamia nut or truffle oil and passionfruit or blackberry vinegar – take your tastebuds to new heights. Let your meats and chicken marinate for 24 hours if possible, veggies for up to 8 hours.
Beery appeeling:
Cutting up lemons, pineapple, papaya or oranges? Don’t throw away the peels. The acid and enzymes in those fruit help to tenderize your meats and make them more juicy. You can opt for tougher, more inexpensive cuts of steak like flank, hanger or skirt and place them in a gallon-size Ziploc bag to marinade for up to 2 days using the peels, along with a bottle of flavorful, dark beer.
Keep it lean:
Opt for leaner cuts and make half the plate veggies. For plant-based eaters, consider my black bean and mushroom burgers for a hearty, satisfying bite.
For the omnivores, choose wild caught seafood, beef, lamb, chicken, pork and other animal products that are humanely raised, without growth hormones or antibiotics, and fed with the right diet (Grass fed and finished beef, pasture raised chicken and wild caught seafood are better because they eat what nature intended.) Consider bison, a lean, red meat that is always free range, and serve it on a lettuce or portobello mushroom bun topped with grilled veggies.
Eat the rainbow:
Grilling a variety of fresh veggies on aluminum foil is a nice way to keep them moist and avoid them falling through the grill. Bell pepper, zucchini, squash, eggplant make a flavorful ‘half the plate’ accompaniment. Try grilling your romaine lettuce, radicchio and peaches for a super summery salad. And make sure to clean all your produce with Eat Cleaner Fruit & Veggie Wash before you eat to remove pesticide residue, wax and the residue that can cause food borne illness.
Disclaimer: The tips article and a few of the images were provided by the book author and are used with permission. No compensation was received for this post.
Hi! I’m Chris! Just a Midlife Wife sharing about life’s journey; screaming and kicking through it while supposedly aging gracefully…
Focusing on healthy living, low carb & keto, things I am loving right now, and life in general.