Grilling is one of the oldest ways of preparing meals. Before the invention of pottery, humans have been cooking meat over fires for thousands of years. Even today, it remains one of the favourite cooking methods because of that incomparable flavour and delicious golden crust you get. Luckily, grilling is much more convenient these days: you can find both outdoor units for cooking in the yard and compact indoor grills. To buy the appliance that will allow you to make your favourite treats throughout the year, you can check out different indoor grills.
Tempting as they are, grilled meals are definitely healthier than fried ones. Cooking on direct heat requires no oil and hence it allows you to keep the calories down. Even more, the fat in the meat will melt and some of it will drip down during cooking. Designed to help you prepare healthier meals with no hassle at all, indoor electric grills usually have special channels to drain away fat and grease and handy drip trays.
On the other hand, grilling is not as healthy as steaming because potentially harmful compounds (PAHs and HCAs) may form when you cook red meat, poultry and fish. However, there are simple tips that will make grilling healthier.
First of all, you can minimise grilling time by preparing smaller portions of meat, poultry and fish or pre-cooking them in a microwave. Besides, if you choose leaner meats, less fat will drip onto the grilling surface and hence fewer polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) will form and get on foods. Meanwhile, using the right marinade will help you to intensify the taste and flavour of your dish. The basic ingredients for marinating meat are salt, oil, herbs, and spices.
If you want to make foods that are good for your health grilling vegetables with or even instead of meat is a great idea. And not only because they are the vital source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre, but because when you grill vegetables or fruit, the harmful compounds we have mentioned above do not form. If you or your family are not too fond of veggies, maybe you just have not tried the right recipe. Caramelised and seasoned with aromatic spices, they will taste like heaven.
Grilling vegetables and fruit is pretty straightforward. You do not need to precut small mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, cherry tomatoes and many other foods, but make sure to slice courgettes, aubergines, onions and other larger items before putting them on your tabletop grill. Marinating veggies for an hour or so before grilling will help to prevent them from getting too dry during cooking. To add even more flavour, you can repeat the procedure after grilling.
Grilled Vegetable Marinades Quick Recipes
- Olive oil (⅓ cup), balsamic vinegar (¼ cup), mustard (3 tablespoons), honey (3 tablespoons), and seasonings (black pepper, salt, dried thyme and garlic powder to your taste). Whisk the ingredients until smooth and marinate carrots, sweet pepper and other veggies for at least 30 minutes.
- Olive oil (¼ cup), 3 garlic cloves sliced, half a lemon juiced, salt, black and red pepper to your preference. Mix them together in a bowl and toss the veggies in.
- Soy sauce (½ cup), olive oil (½ cup), lemon juice (½ cup) and half a garlic clove crushed. When mixed, pour the marinade over the vegetables and send them to the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so before grilling.
To sum it all up, cooking delicious meals that promote better health and fat reduction can be a fun and enjoyable task. Armed with the healthy cooking tips above, you can experiment with various ingredients and spices to create your own unique flavours.
