Grilling Smart - Big Y® World Class Market®

Registered Dietitian Carrie Taylor, RD, LDN and Nutritionist Andrea Samson, BS

Summer is here and so is the grilling season. But don’t limit grilling to just barbecues. Take advantage of the nice weather and let grilling become part of
your healthy eating plan. Not sure how to keep things healthy on the grill? Just follow these tips for delicious and nutritious grilled meals.

GRILLING FOR GOOD HEALTH
Choose boneless, skinless chicken breast over higher fat wings or drumsticks. When considering pork or beef, cuts labeled “round” or “loin” tend to be the leanest. Also, look for cuts containing the least marbling or white lines of fat running throughout. When making burgers, go leaner by selecting ground meats indicating a higher percent of lean on the front packaging. For example, 93 percent lean indicates a product is 7 percent fat, so the higher the percentage listed on the package, the healthier the option. Keep in mind when you are working with ground turkey, the patties tend to be softer than their ground beef counterparts. To maintain form while grilling, mix in a raw egg and bread crumbs to turkey meat before forming into patties. Lastly, be sure to include fish in your grilling repertoire. Salmon, tuna and mackerel are a few examples that are loaded with heart-healthy, brain-boosting omega-3 fats.

CHOOSE FLAVORINGS WISELY
Read labels when purchasing ready-made marinades and barbecue sauces. Choose varieties lower in fat, sodium and sugar. An easy, healthful alternative to using bottled marinade is to make your own. Apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil are great marinade bases that combine easily with seasonings. Mix it up! Instead of marinade, try rubbing a blend of your favorite herbs
and spices right onto the surface of meat before grilling.

MAKE IT A COMPLETE MEAL
Why limit grilling to just your main course? Many fruits and vegetables cook up nicely on the grill — perfect for side dishes and desserts. Firmer fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears, eggplant, zucchini, carrots, peppers and onions work best.

Season veggies with a light coating of olive oil, herbs and spices.
Toss fruits with lemon juice beforehand to prevent browning. Depending on your fruit or vegetable, best results may be gained by cooking directly on the grill, wrapping in heavy-duty aluminum foil, on a kabob skewer or in a grilling basket. Have fun and experiment!

REMEMBER FOOD SAFETY
Sometimes food safety in the kitchen doesn’t carry over to the grill. Here are a few things to remember:

Marinate in the refrigerator, not on the countertop.

Use separate utensils and dishes for raw and cooked meats.

When adding sauces during cooking, as well as to cooked portions of meat, use separate, clean utensils and sauce.

Lastly, don’t forget to wash those hands! Bacteria from your hands and from the raw foods you are touching can transfer to the food you eat, and can make you ill. Always wash before and after cooking, as well as in between handling raw and cooked foods.

Follow these tips for summer grilling and rest assured you and your family will be grilling healthfully!

HAVE A NUTRITION QUESTION?
Ask Big Y’s Wellness Team:
Big Y’s Registered Dietitian, Carrie Taylor, RD, LDN and Nutritionist, Andrea Samson, BS

Visit BigY.com’s Living Well Eating Smart webpage and post a question
Send e-mails to
askcarrie@bigy.com

Write to Ask Carrie
2145 Roosevelt Ave.
PO Box 7840
Springfield, MA 01102