BBQ time, ideas please

samandlucysmum
samandlucysmum Posts: 320
in Food and Nutrition
So, the weather is heating up, and the bbq has come out of storage, only diff is that this year I am eating healthier, and I am clueless as to what to cook on it, I have a basic coal bbq, and we don't eat fish.

Ideas please,

Replies

  • Lerayima
    Lerayima Posts: 4 Member
    I'd think along the lines of poultry such as turkey and chicken and go for tikka, tandoori or jerk marinades. You could buy the marinades or better still make them yourself. And either cook the chicken skinless or take it off before eating.
  • migoi357
    migoi357 Posts: 173 Member
    Skinless, boneless chicken tenderloins. They're thinner so you don't have to burn the outside just to get the inside done. Chicken takes additional flavors well and by using a variety of sauces and rubs you can get an almost endless array of different flavors. Any manner of vegetables can be skewered and grilled also.
  • FearTheFool
    FearTheFool Posts: 24 Member
    Veggie Kabobs are one of my favourite things on the BBQ. Fresh bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Small Onions, Cherry Tomatoes, courgettes! Om nom nom.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    It's all about portion control, no sauces or heavy sodium rubs. Other then that anything you normally eat. Try grilling your veggies, they are so much better grilled.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    Any kind of lean meat or fish you'd normally eat. I've been making my own marinades thi summer. 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tablespoon white vinegar and whatever spices Im in the mood for (per piece of meat/fish). Also I've been doing veggies as my sides. Yesterday I put a piece of tinfoil over the grill, put a cup of baby carrots on it along with some olive oil, pepper,salt and garlic powder. I let them cook ten minutes then rolled them over and let them cook another ten minutes. They were delicious!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    White over red over white (choose lean white meats over red meats, lean red meats over heavily-marbled or fatty red meats). That's not to say you should completely avoid red meat, of course, but if you're going to barbecue frequently a honkin' slab of fatty red meat every single time may not be a wise choice.

    Portion sizes - a portion of meat is 4 ounces. Get inventive with the grill to fill the rest of it with interesting food - baked potato or sweet potato, vegetables - great grilling candidates.
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
    Check out Hungry Girl's website/show, she has had an episode on BBQ foods
  • mmsilvia
    mmsilvia Posts: 459 Member
    Marinate some turkey tips ~ they are the bomb when grilled!!

    Grill up some fresh seasonal veggies as a nice side dish :smile:
  • CherryPie606
    CherryPie606 Posts: 44 Member
    Ooh interesting! Love sweet potatoes. Can anyone tell me the beat way to cook SP on the bbq? Thanks in advance : )
  • hypallage
    hypallage Posts: 624 Member
    Veggie kebabs - courgette / zucchini is awesome barbequed.
    Halloumi
    Chicken / turkey marinated in home made marinades
  • BartsGurl
    BartsGurl Posts: 19
    Get some zucchini and yellow squash, slice the long way to about 1/8 inch (if they are long ones, you might have to chop in half first). Brush with olive oil or spray with Pam, then sprinkle with WEBER'S ZESTY LEMON seasoning. Grill! The Weber's can be hard to find so if you can't find it, just use a combination of Montreal Steak Seasoning plus some lemon pepper seasoning. Grilled veggie perfection!
  • BartsGurl
    BartsGurl Posts: 19
    Ooh interesting! Love sweet potatoes. Can anyone tell me the beat way to cook SP on the bbq? Thanks in advance : )

    Prick skins, wrap in foil and cook on med-to-med/low for 20-30 depending on size of potato. Rotate a couple of times while cooking. Easy peezy lemon squeezy!
  • EmRobo
    EmRobo Posts: 146 Member
    I don't eat meat - so I use quorn products on the BBQ

    Veggie Kebabs as others have said, love sweet potato too but never thought to put that on the BBQ

    Asparagus on the BBQ - bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt

    I also put on - corn on the cob done in a lemon and lime, with garlic, chilli and herbs marinade

    I make a salad up and homemade coleslaw

    I also BBQ pineapple too
  • MariarR33
    MariarR33 Posts: 69
    Grilled veggies are great on the grill. I cut up some squash, zuccinni, and mushrooms, add some salt pepper, oregano, and a little EVOO, then grill for about 20 minutes. Asparagus works great too, as do many veggies. Also you can marinate chicken breast and grill that. Pork chops, yummy! I love using the grill. We actually use ours all year long!
  • elexichoccyeater
    elexichoccyeater Posts: 310 Member
    corn on the cob for me please.. and vegetable kebabs ... as for meat I would treat myself to the nicest bit of fillet and leave all the other muck to the others :D
  • ready2tryagain42
    ready2tryagain42 Posts: 202
    Grilled veggies are awesome! Me and my mom did grilled purple onions this past weekend...as well as shrimp and ribeyes. They were delicious. I have also cooked pork and chicken on the grill after doing a spice rub on the meat...all very good. You can cook just about any veggie on the grill...zuccini and squash are also pretty good...
  • MelHoneyRocks
    MelHoneyRocks Posts: 223
    Grill all your veggies, our favorite is grilled broccoli, just toss lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper.
    Any veggie will work. Grill all your veggies and then throw them in a salad. Tomatoes, asparagus, and even carrots.
    Try grilling artichokes as well. Split them in half, put in boiling water for 10 mins, then cool. Remove the fuzzy stuff and drizzle some balsamic dressing on them and let them marinate. Then grill on each side for 10-15 each. Promise you will love this.
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,674 Member
    Just posted this for grilled artichoke hearts....wow, they were delicious. We are growing them, so we have grocery bags full...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/612446-just-grilled-lemon-garlic-artichoke-hearts-crazy-good

    enjoy!:)MinMin
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Just buy leaner meats - lean ground beef for burgers, pork loin chops or tenderloin. We like to buy the leaner, cheaper cuts of beef, tenderize them, then grill them and some peppers and onion. Slice thinly and top with a little reduced fat cheese on a whole grain bun for a healthy cheesesteak sandwich. Chicken, of course. You can even do turkey breasts on the grill. Just buy one of those breast only that are made for roasting and chop it in half right down the backbone. Best to brine that first to make sure it doesn't dry out, though.

    And buy a veggie basket. You can chop all your veggies and cook them on the grill as well. Many veggie work well on the grill without the basket, but it's much easier to turn or stir them with it. I love my veggie grill basket.
  • Spice_4_Life
    Spice_4_Life Posts: 225
    So, the weather is heating up, and the bbq has come out of storage, only diff is that this year I am eating healthier, and I am clueless as to what to cook on it, I have a basic coal bbq, and we don't eat fish.

    Ideas please,

    Try some lean chicken and smoke it :) or a lean pork loin :))) Mmmm!
  • Spice_4_Life
    Spice_4_Life Posts: 225
    Grill all your veggies, our favorite is grilled broccoli, just toss lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper.
    Any veggie will work. Grill all your veggies and then throw them in a salad. Tomatoes, asparagus, and even carrots.
    Try grilling artichokes as well. Split them in half, put in boiling water for 10 mins, then cool. Remove the fuzzy stuff and drizzle some balsamic dressing on them and let them marinate. Then grill on each side for 10-15 each. Promise you will love this.

    Artichokes sound delish!!!
  • msudaisy28
    msudaisy28 Posts: 267 Member
    Like everyone else said - take your favorites and just cook them on the grill! I have a veggie basket and we cook almost all veggies on the grill in the summer. Corn on the cob is super good when grilled with the husk still on (I soak them in water for 30 minutes or so prior to putting them on but you don't have to). Our favorite veggies are zucchini, onions, summer squash, asaparagus, corn, butternut squash (I usually parboil the slices in the microwave first since it can take a long time to cook) and green beans. Never thought to do potatoes/sweet potatoes before, but we might have to start!

    For meats we do a lot of chicken breast (boneless, skinless), steak (hubby - I don't care for steak), and pork loin. I am a fan of kabobs too - we typically use meat of some sort, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, butternut squash and onions for them. For pork and chicken we mix up the marinades that we use frequently, however it isn't unusual for us to just grill the meat plain with some simple seasonings (salt, pepper, lemon zest for instance).

    Love the grill - good luck and have fun!
  • Zichu
    Zichu Posts: 542 Member
    We had a BBQ last week and it was great. We had burgers which were only 162 calories each, not including the bun which was 195 calories. I only had one burger.

    We had kebabs which consisted of pork fillet, courgettes, mushrooms, peppers, onions and jersey potatoes.

    We also marinate chicken legs in barbeque marinade. They were great as well. The meal was around 800 calories in total and it was so filling.

    I had one burger, 1 bbq chicken leg and 2 kebabs. This chicken leg was massive and the kebabs were quite long as well. Obviously, you can opt out of using pork fillets and just use veggies. Get rid of the chicken skin and use pita instead of a bun. Replace beef with turkey, unless you aren't fussed about beef.

    I'm currently eating 2130 calories a day, so this meal wasn't too bad consider the rest of the day wasn't bad at all.
  • wwk10
    wwk10 Posts: 244 Member
    Off topic, but I was in my mid 20s before I realized when people said BBQ they meant hamburgers and hotdogs.
    As in come over Saturday and we will barbeque.
    I thought a Barbeque meant slaughter a whole 100 lb hog and then slow cook it over homemade hickory coals for 12 hours.

    I believe what you are talking about is grilling.
    As in come over Saturday and we will grill out.

    Imagine my disappointment that first time 20 years ago when there was only hotdogs and hamburgers at the "BBQ"
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Off topic, but I was in my mid 20s before I realized when people said BBQ they meant hamburgers and hotdogs.
    As in come over Saturday and we will barbeque.
    I thought a Barbeque meant slaughter a whole 100 lb hog and then slow cook it over homemade hickory coals for 12 hours.

    In my neck of the woods, this is called a "pig roast" (though it doesn't have to 100 lb, just a whole hog). "BBQ" means animal flesh slathered in a spicy bbq sauce, cooked on or off the grill. Cooking food on the grill is a "cookout".
  • TGKvr
    TGKvr Posts: 123 Member
    I love grilling those little baby sweet peppers - the ones that come in red, yellow, and orange. YUM. Pretty much anything you can do in the oven, you can also do on the grill. If you get one of those veggie baskets, you can even use that to cook chopped veggies with whatever seasonings you want.
    Sweet potatoes, peppers, squash/zucchini, steaks, chicken, pizzas, veggie burgers... the list is endless!

    **edit to add: grilled stuffed portobello mushroom caps. Heaven.
  • gooster5
    gooster5 Posts: 8 Member
    turkey burgers with cajun spice
    zucchini, peppers and mushrooms
    grilled pizzas are yummy too!
  • DeniseB0711
    DeniseB0711 Posts: 294 Member
    Grilled Cauliflour is my new favorite and its SUPER EASY.

    Slice a head of cauliflour into "Steaks" a lot of the flourets will fall off but that's fine you can eat them raw later. Slather the slices with about a table spoon of olive oil, add salt and pepper and put on the the grill. If you are using charcoal, make sure the heat is indirect and as far away from the coals as possible. Cook 4 or 5 minutes on each side.

    Monday we had hamburgers and I used sliced cauliflour as my bun and it was sooo good.

    Denise
  • DeniseB0711
    DeniseB0711 Posts: 294 Member
    Off topic, but I was in my mid 20s before I realized when people said BBQ they meant hamburgers and hotdogs.
    As in come over Saturday and we will barbeque.
    I thought a Barbeque meant slaughter a whole 100 lb hog and then slow cook it over homemade hickory coals for 12 hours.

    In my neck of the woods, this is called a "pig roast" (though it doesn't have to 100 lb, just a whole hog). "BBQ" means animal flesh slathered in a spicy bbq sauce, cooked on or off the grill. Cooking food on the grill is a "cookout".

    sad I know. I live in the world where its called "Grilling OUt" and BBQ is one method of cooking meat.

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