Now the summer is here and the weather is hot, I have no doubt that hosting a barbecue has crossed your mind. Personally, I love barbecues as there is nothing better than an afternoon with a great combination of great food, company and best of all weather.
But it always seems like the men try and take over whenever the barbecue gets out. But we know that you girls can really show the boys how it is done when it comes to some good, old-fashioned barbecuing.
First things first, we do need to make sure that we don’t however just abandon all thought and eliminate all healthy thoughts out of the window, as grilling can be one of the healthiest forms of cooking.
We just need to be aware of the choices we make, when it comes to choosing the things like oil, meat, marinade and sauces we use.
But I have come up with some good tips to try and keep our barbecues healthy but also remaining delicious.
The Oil
When it comes to choosing oils when barbecuing we do need to be careful. Olive oil may taste great combined with your salad on the side, but when heated to a high degree (~190°C) the oil begins to degrade and change their chemical structure. This causes them to become highly inflammatory to our bodies and gives the meat an awful bitter taste. When barbecuing at such high temperatures, try and use oils with much higher smoke points such as avocado oil (271°C) or peanut oil (232°C).
The Marinade
We do all love it when we have a nice bit of marinated meat to tuck in to. But, we do need to just keep an eye on the marinade we use, especially if it is alcohol. However good the combo of alcohol and meat may sound, it also very tricky to keep control of our waistlines when there is alcohol involved.
Consequently, an alternative marinade such as the combination of garlic, onion and lemon juice can be just as tasty with much greater health benefits. But if you don’t like those ingredients the you can always try other healthy marinades shown here. http://paleofood.com/marinade.htm
The Sauce
Despite ketchup being a family favourite and staple of the British burger, a quarter of bottled ketchup is sugar. Mayonnaise isn’t much better either as it contains 11.5g of fat per tablespoon, with much of that being very harmful polyunsaturated fats. Therefore, it might be better that rather than mayo, you use greek yoghurt or maybe try a bit of salsa instead.
This will help to keep things very tasty and vibrant, but also very healthy.
The Meat
This may be the most important part of the barbecuing process…….getting the right meat. To ensure we help maintain our trim waistlines, then it is important not to gorge on the fatty, high calorie meats such as ribs, pork chops, hot dogs, burgers and any other kind of processed meat rubbish that you may think of. The top 5 healthy meats that we recommend are:
Ground Turkey Burgers
No BBQ is complete without a burger. But these provide a very healthy, lean alternative to the original burger.
Typical Turkey Burger (150g)
Protein: 41g
Fat: 3.5g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Calories: 196
Pork Tenderloin
To avoid the huge fat slab that comes with your typical pork chop, try a bit of pork tenderloin. Rather than containing 16g of fat like a pork chop, the tenderloin has only just over 4g of fat. Thus, pork tenderloin can provide a much healthier alternative.
Typical Pork Tenderloin (150g)
Protein: 22g
Fat: 4.6g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Calories: 137
Flank Steak.
When it comes to a BBQ, burger and hot dogs just don’t cut it for some. They prefer a more sophisticated meat like a bit of steak. This can be done healthily by getting a juicy bit of flank steak, which is a lot leaner than other typical slabs of steak like rump or sirloin. A great way to have it is sliced in some tacos, with a bit of grilled onion, pepper and some guacamole.
Typical Flank Steak (150g)
Protein: 39g
Fat: 10g
Carbs: 0g
Calories: 260
Swordfish
If health is well on the agenda for your BBQ, then there is nothing healthier than fish. One of the best fish for grilling is swordfish, because it is very meaty and can also handle the high heat of the BBQ without falling to pieces. Additionally, it can go really well with different ingredients like a bit of lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil.
Typical Swordfish (150g)
Protein: 33g
Fat: 11g
Carbohydrates: 0g
Calories: 244
Pheasant
For a more exotic option compared to chicken, then try some wild or farm-raised pheasant. The pheasant is particularly lean (especially with skin removed) and its caloric content is made up of 78% protein, making it an ideal BBQ ingredient. Also, being of predominantly dark meat, it provides a real smoky taste that goes brilliantly with the grilling process.
Typical Pheasant (150g)
Protein: 45g
Fat: 17g
Carbs: 0g
Calories: 335
Enjoy,
Kristian