Good Grilling!
by Susan Bohanan, RD, LD
Now is the grilling season. The great news about grilling out is that it is a fabulous and flavorful method of cooking that doesn’t add any fat! On top of that, the foods that are most often grilled are meats – so you can enjoy excellent protein sources prepared in a healthy way.
Although grilling does not add fat it is very important that you start with lean cuts of meat. BBQ Spareribs just aren’t going to make it on the list of lean meats! The trick to cooking lean meats on the grill is to make sure that the meat does not get too dry. This can be accomplished in a few different ways.
Searing
Over a hot flame, cook the meat quickly on both sides (similar to browning in a pan) to seal in the natural juices. Lower the heat to continue cooking. If you are using charcoal briquettes you may need to adjust your rack to obtain a hotter flame and then raise it back up to continue cooking. You can sear any type of meat – beef, chicken, fish or pork, but the leanest meats are of course fish, chicken and shrimp. Searing also works well in combination with Wrapping in Foil. The searing enhances the barbeque flavor and if the meat is wrapped it really keeps the meat from drying out. The searing and wrapping combination works best with large pieces of fish (such as salmon).
A similar result for chicken can be achieved by cooking with the skin on and removing it before you eat the piece of chicken. Nutritional analysis has shown that very little fat (maybe 1 gram) is added to the chicken if you cook it with the skin on – the fat only counts if you eat the skin. A huge drawback of cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the grill is that you can get boneless, skinless cardboard as a result! Keep the skin on to cook the chicken and remove and discard prior to serving, or use the suggestion for boneless, skinless breasts in the next section!
Wrap in Foil
We have mentioned searing meat and then wrapping in foil; you also can cook meats entirely in foil without searing first. You may be thinking, “Why would I cook my meats in foil on the grill, why not just use the oven?” It’s a great way to beat the heat and not have to turn on your oven! You can use foil bags and toss an entire meal on the grill without having to heat up the kitchen! You can also steam-cook fish in foil and then you don’t have the smell of fish in your house, yet you can still enjoy the barbeque flavorings.
The best way to steam-cook fish is to place the fish in the center of a piece of foil; squeeze with lemon, sprinkle with any other seasoning you desire and then fold up the foil and scrunch it closed, leaving an air space between the fish and the sealed foil. This creates a steam pocket and maintains moisture while your fish is on the grill. It usually works best to wrap fillets individually.
One advantage to using a gas grill is that you do not have to wait for coals, and when you are done so are the coals. However, if you prefer grilling with charcoal, you can use foil grilling to prepare for additional meals. The coals can continue cooking for at least an hour after your dinner is served, why waste them? This tip is in the Foil section because my favorite add-on meal is to cook several foil packages of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or tenders slowly over the remaining coals. You can wrap them or use a cooking bag. Place about 3 breasts or 8 tenders in a bag or on a piece of foil; squeeze with lemon, lime or both. Sprinkle with a little seasoning salt. Fold the foil around the chicken pieces and then double wrap with another piece of foil. Place on the low coals and cook for about an hour; turn once. You will be amazed at how tender and juicy this chicken is! There are endless uses for cooked chicken breasts. You can enjoy them as a meal, make into fajitas, add to a bag of steamed frozen vegetables for a stir fry etc or chop up and throw into a salad.
Sauces and Marinades
Marinating meats prior to grilling not only adds flavor, but can also help minimize the drying out of the meat. It’s helpful if you continue to coat the meat with the marinade as it cooks. This can also be accomplished with sauces, such as simple barbeque sauce, which you wouldn’t marinate with, but can coat while cooking. If you are keeping skin on the chicken until after it is cooked you may want to add a coat of sauce under the skin when the chicken is almost done to enhance that flavor.
Use a Meat Thermometer
This is an easy tip to help ensure that your meats are fully cooked but not overdone. Sometimes meats dry out on a grill because we are afraid of serving undercooked food, so we cook it for a extra few minutes and it just continues to dry up! Different meats require different internal cooking temperatures and all are well labeled on any good meat thermometer. This is also a great tool to make everybody’s steak exactly how they want it.
LEAN MEATS
Beef
The great news about beef on the grill is you can still enjoy steaks and burgers! The best steaks are going to be fillets (tenderloin), sirloin steaks or New York Strip. For burgers, purchase Extra Lean ground beef (ground chuck or ground sirloin); and for extra flavor add one egg, minced onion and black pepper to about two to three pounds of meat before making into patties. Higher fat cuts of beef to avoid are going to include ribs, rib-eye steaks, T-bones and Porterhouse steaks. You can usually see all of the extra fat in the marbling of the meat. Trimmed beef brisket is a medium-fat meat.
Pork
As with beef, cuts of pork from the loin and tenderloin are going to be the leanest. Pork tenderloin is delicious cooked on the grill (this is a meat that you would want to marinate, sear and then continue cooking over a medium flame), and butterfly pork chops also do very well. You can purchase pre-seasoned pork tenderloins, however they tend to be very high in sodium. Instead you can marinate on your own – pork marinates well in an orange, lemon or pineapple juice.
Chicken
Chicken is a lean meat if you do not eat the skin. Dark meat chicken does contain more fat, but is still lower than most cuts of beef and pork.
Fish and Seafood
Fatty fish, such as salmon, is great on the grill, and because of the heart benefits higher fat fish are recommended above most other meats. A large salmon filet or tuna steak is something that you would sear and then wrap in foil, no need to create a steam pouch, just double wrap it. Naturally low fat fish like Orange Roughy, Whiting or Cod will do better steam cooked in individual foil pouches. Just like keeping the skin on chicken you can keep the skin on your fish and cook it – something those of you that eat what you catch already do! There are some fish griller baskets that can help make it easier to cook fish this way.
Shrimp is a low fat seafood, but is high in cholesterol, so if you have high cholesterol you should probably only have shrimp occasionally. On the grill, you will need to have shrimp on a skewer. Clams, scallops and oysters can be steam-cooked like the individual fish fillets. If you buy very large scallops they might stay on a skewer for you (I have never had much luck)!
On the Side
Probably one of the biggest downfalls to grilling is that it is often associated with an event instead of as a regular way to prepare meals. Even if you choose lean meats for one of your events, the side dishes and desserts can sabotage your efforts. The idea is to start using your grill regularly as a low fat method to prepare food and choose a couple of side dishes instead of having a buffet! For example, if you like burgers, select only the leanest ground meat. Serve burgers on whole wheat buns with a tossed green salad. If you are watching carbs you can serve plain burgers with the same salad and maybe some black beans or pinto beans for a good carb/protein combination.
Potatoes and yams are cooked easily on the grill, and are good complex carbohydrates. You can wrap a baking potato or yam in foil, or cut into slices or cubes, double wrap in foil, add about 1 Tbs of margarine or butter (per 2 potatoes), salt and pepper and cook for 30-45 minutes depending on how hot the coals are.
You can literally wrap nearly any vegetable in foil or use a foil bag and toss it on the grill to cook. This means that you can avoid using any pots or pans, AND you don’t have to turn on the oven or stove! A pinch of basil, dill or other favorite herb tastes great on a variety of vegetables. If you are serving steaks you can cook the mushrooms in a foil bag, add a dash of garlic powder or a whole clove of garlic for seasoning.
Finally, a favorite side for any of your meats is the “Grillin’ Onion.” So easy, and so delicious! Peel a large onion; slice from the top in 6-8 sections. Hold it together and place on a piece of foil. Put about 1 Tbs of butter or margarine on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and double wrap. Grill for about 30 minutes (you may put the onion on before the meat sometimes). The onion tastes great on a burger or steak, fish or chicken.
Happy Grilling!
