Benefit your body and expand your grilling expertise at the same time with these delectable fresh-air recipes.
There’s a wholesome, healthful stir in the grilling world with traditional fare making room for platters of leaner beef, skinless chicken and flavorful vegetables.
This is good news to Kent Madison, opposite, chef at the Mall of the Bluffs Hy-Vee in Council Bluffs, Iowa As the host of regular cooking classes for customers, Kent has received feedback from 2,000 students, shaping his view of what dishes appeal to people. What topic is fi ring up customer interest? Nutritious grilling. That dovetails nicely with Kent’s belief that grills are perfect for preparing great-tasting, healthful food.
The ground rules Kent offers for diet-smart grilling are ones you may already be putting into practice, but they become even more important with leaner cuts of meat or skinless chicken.
“Don’t overcook, or your meat will dry out,” he says. “Use a quickread meat thermometer for chicken, pork and beef. For fish, you can tell it’s done when it flakes and loses its translucent look.”
To keep low-fat food from sticking to the grilling grate, Kent recommends spraying the grate with nonstick cooking spray before heating up the grill and/or brushing the food you’re grilling with a little olive oil. Another trick is to cook on thoroughly preheated grates since food will stick more to those that are simply warm.
CHOOSE CHICKEN
To keep boneless, skinless chicken breasts from drying out, Kent grills them to 165°F over medium coals and often relies on marinades for moisture insurance. For a poultry rub, he uses a favorite all-purpose low-sodium blend of eight spices called Rent-A-Chef Seasoning. “It’s good on everything but ice cream,” he quips. Kent prefers a fresh product sold at Hy-Vee called Smart Chicken, which is air-chilled instead of water-enhanced. He says, “It tastes more like chicken.”
GO FISH
Fish is on the upsurge in the American diet, thanks to widespread awareness of omega-3 fatty acids that promote heart, brain and vision health. To encourage customers to eat the recommended two servings of fi sh per week, Hy-Vee offers a wide variety of fresh and tasty selections. As a safeguard of maximum fish quality, Hy-Vee employs a Consumer Safety Offi cer from the U.S. Department of Commerce. This offi cer conducts strict flavor profiles for each fresh species sold. Firm-fleshed salmon and tuna are as easy to grill as burgers and are quickly gaining in popularity. Kent mentions plank-grilling as a way to protect fish from overcooking, add a woodsy flavor and sidestep flipping.
GARDEN TO GRILL
Vegetables on the grill are somewhat of a Cinderella story. Humble squash, eggplant and onions are transformed into alluring smoky-flavored specialties. When cooking vegetables directly on the grill, cut them into uniform pieces large enough that they won’t fall through the grates. Before grilling, pat dry any moist surfaces (moisture will stall the browning process) and brush with olive oil. Hy-Vee offers several meat marinades that taste great on vegetables, too, Kent says.
THE CUTS THAT COUNT
Today’s pork is lower in fat than ever before. Ounce for ounce, trimmed pork tenderloin and skinless chicken breasts have the same total fat content. When selecting lean beef to grill, choose from the loin.
“My favorite cut of meat is sirloin,” Kent says, “because it has less fat than a New York strip. Cook it on the medium-rare side.” He also recommends Amana beef kabobs as an easy option.
View some of our grilling recipes.