Summer is my favorite time of year for so many reasons one of them being it’s the best time to take advantage of the grill and reinvent some of my favorite dishes in a healthy and flavorful way.  Grilling not only tastes delicious, it’s healthy, easy, saves on clean up, and it super fun! Here are a few of my favorite recipes from the grill to keep you and your families nourished this summer!

 Grilled Veggie Salad:

1 ear corn                          1 yellow squash sliced                        1 zucchini sliced

1 red onion sliced           1 red bell pepper sliced                     1 small eggplant sliced

2 heads of crisp romaine lettuce              2T basil chopped

1T fresh chopped parsley                 1T Dijon mustard             3T olive oil plus extra for grilling

2T red wine vinegar                             2 cloves garlic minced             Salt and pepper

Take first 6 ingredients rub with olive oil salt and pepper. Heat grill to medium high head; grill veggies about 5 minutes on each side until cooked almost all the way through.  Take off grill and let cool while you make the rest of the salad.  Chop romaine and place in large salad bowl, in small bowl or jar mix the herbs, mustard, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper for dressing.  Chop cooled veggies and place in salad bowl. Pour dressing over the salad toss and serve.

Pesto Grilled White Fish:

1 cup homemade or store bought basil pesto

Zest of one lemon                 2- 7oz filets of your favorite white fish               Salt & Pepper to taste

1 tsp Smoked paprika            1 tbsp Olive oil                  4 lemon wedges

Rub fish with olive oil salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Grill on medium heat until fish is cooked through about 4 minutes per side. Mix pesto and lemon zest together. Spoon 2 tbsp of pesto over each piece of fish, serve with lemon wedges on side.

Grilled Veggie and chicken tacos

1 chicken breast                       1 yellow pepper sliced                   1 zucchini sliced

1 red onion sliced                     1 jalapeno grilled then thinly sliced

1 head romaine lettuce washed              Handful cilantro leaves

1 lime cut into wedges           1 clove garlic              1T cumin

1T coriander                 ½ T chili powder                Olive oil

Salt and pepper             ½ cup fat free feta             4-6 corn tortillas

Mix garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Rub the chicken, pepper, zucchini, red onion, and jalapeno with mixture. Place on grill preheated to medium grill until everything is cooked through.  Place whole head of lettuce over heat just to char, do the same with the tortillas.  Chop veggies and chicken and evenly place into each tortilla, top with chopped grilled lettuce, fresh cilantro, cheese, and squeeze of lime.  If you really want to make this dish light serve in a grilled cabbage cup instead of the tortilla…yummy!!

Grilled fruit with lime sauce:

Pineapple            Peach               Cantaloupe

Mango                   Apple                     Banana

Take any of your favorite fruit cut them into cubes and place on skewers. Grill over high head just until fruit develops grill marks. Take off the grill and serve immediately or wait for fruit to cool. You can sprinkle with granola, drizzle with honey or yogurt. Really the list goes on with this recipe you can make it as simple or as over the top as you want.

Sauce:   Mix honey, plain or vanilla yogurt, lime juice and zest to make a delicious dip for your grilled fruit.

All this grill talk has put me in the mood! I’m off to make grilled kabocha squash, chicken, and whatever else I have on hand!

Happy grilling to you!

Kelsey

Don’t forget to sprinkle on all your BBQ favorites!

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Posted in Nutrition and Recipes at August 9th, 2012 by Kelsey

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