Posted by Janet Harriett on Jul.03, 2009

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Scarcely into bathing suit season, and along comes a holiday weekend traditionally celebrated with cookouts featuring all kinds of unhealthy, high calorie foods. From barbecued meat dripping with sugar-laden sauces to salads drowning in mayonnaise, typical cookout fare is hardly bikini-body friendly.

Buying baked chips for the dip and 100% whole wheat buns for the hamburgers and hot dogs is a good first step to making over the barbecue menu with healthier alternatives. Be sure to offer thick slices of tomato and onion, and dark leaf lettuce (not the nutritionally-negligible iceberg) to top hamburgers. Vegetables on a bun are still vegetables. Here are some other easy recipe and menu makeovers for a healthy summer cookout.

Sugar-Free Meat Marinade

Bottled marinades and commercial barbecue sauces are packed full of sugar or high fructose corn syrup. If you’re grilling steak or chicken, marinate the meat overnight in balsamic vinegar with minced garlic and fresh or dried rosemary leaves. Unsweetened lime juice and fresh cilantro also make a great chicken marinade.

Grilled Veggie Kebabs

For some, a barbecue isn’t a barbecue without brats and burgers, but save some room on the grill for fresh vegetable kebabs. Thread mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, onions, multi-colored bell pepper chunks and thick slices of zucchini on skewers. Brush with a small amount of olive oil, sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and grill until tender. Enjoy summer’s bounty fresh off the grill, or make a cookout-style panini by sliding the grilled vegetables off the skewer into a whole wheat hot dog bun and top with a slice of cheese.

Skinny Dips

Substitute strained yogurt or pureed silken tofu for the sour cream in dip recipes. You may need to increase seasonings slightly, since both tofu and yogurt have slightly different flavors that can come through some of the more delicately flavored dips. Alternatively, consider serving the chips and vegetable platters with roasted red pepper or garlic hummus.

Guacamole is high in fat, but it is the good monounsaturated fats. Cut the fat down in guacamole by substituting pureed peas for up to half of the avocado and using more tomato. GreenDivaMom’s Quick and Easy Guacamole discusses all the health benefits of avocados and guacamole.

Potato Salad

Dress potato salad with a mustard vinaigrette made from 1 part dijon mustard, 1 part extra virgin olive oil and 2 parts white wine vinegar or unsweetened rice vinegar, seasoned with fresh parsley and garlic. To get the most nutrition out of the potatoes, leave the peels on. Include some diced celery or chopped dill pickle for crunch

Macaroni Salad

Toss whole wheat pasta with just enough extra virgin olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking to itself. For extra flavor, use a herb or garlic-infused olive oil. To make garlic oil, heat olive oil and minced garlic until the garlic starts to bubble, and keep on the heat for 5 minutes. Cool the oil and strain out the garlic–never leave garlic stored in olive oil, as it may encourage botulism. The lighter oil dressing is perfect for incorporating vegetables like tomatoes, roasted peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, diced green or red peppers and cucumber into the pasta salad.

Coleslaw

Cabbage and carrots are healthy, but they get bogged down with a rich mayo-based coleslaw dressing for picnics. For coleslaw dressing without the mayo, combine one part olive oil and two parts apple cider vinegar with just enough sweetener to take the edge off the vinegar. Add celery seed for the classic coleslaw flavor. Vinegar coleslaw tastes best made a day or so in advance and marinated in the fridge. To boost the nutritional profile of coleslaw even more, include shredded broccoli stems along with the cabbage and carrot.

Fruit

The thick wedges of watermelon are one of the few healthy parts of a traditional cookout menu. Fresh cherries, berries, melon and other seasonal fruits can round out a whole fruit platter. Make summer fruits the centerpiece of a light dessert by topping angel food cake with fresh berries.

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Posted under Food, Nutrition & Recipes, Healthy Recipes.