How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue

  • June 29, 2009
  • 1,067 Views

TreehouseFlicks from TreehouseFlicks (and 3 others)

Howcast Original
Please install Flash

Cookouts don’t have to be diet-killers. Just learn a few ways to slim down your favorite recipes.

You Will Need

  • Lean meat
  • Fish
  • Homemade marinades
  • German potato salad
  • Shredded broccoli
  • Rice-wine vinegar, lime, and fish sauce dressing
  • Ground turkey and turkey bacon
  • Apples
  • Canned beans
  • Fresh salsa
  • Vegetables
  • Aluminum foil
  • Fruit
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • Cherry pulp or prune puree
  • Cucumbers
How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: De-fat the main event

Step 1: De-fat the main event

Grill lean cuts of red meat, like sirloin, rib eye, and tenderloin, or cook a thick fish fillet like tuna, swordfish, or salmon. For burgers, use 90 to 95 percent lean beef or make them with buffalo meat, known as bison – it delivers a meaty taste with less fat and cholesterol than beef or even chicken with skin.

If you’re making beef burgers, replace one-fourth of the chopped meat with fresh cherry pulp or prune puree to add moisture and cut down on fat without sacrificing flavor.

How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: Make your own marinades

Step 2: Make your own marinades

Control the calorie content of marinades by making them yourself. A good olive oil mixed with fresh lemon juice and herbs works well.

How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: Pare down the potato salad

Step 3: Pare down the potato salad

Make German potato salad, which skips mayonnaise in favor of vinaigrette.

Mix in thinly sliced cucumbers for extra taste and crunch.

How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: Pump up the slaw

Step 4: Pump up the slaw

Leave the mayonnaise out of coleslaw and add shredded broccoli for extra nutrients. Or give it an Asian twist with rice vinegar, lime juice, and fish sauce dressing.

How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: Serve reduced-fat baked beans

Step 5: Serve reduced-fat baked beans

Reduce the fat in baked beans by using ground turkey and turkey bacon instead of beef and replacing a quarter of the beans with chopped apples. Or, mix a couple of cans of black beans with some fresh salsa for a meatless, but just as tasty, side dish.

How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: Think outside the box

Step 6: Think outside the box

When it comes to vegetables, think beyond corn on the cob. Broccoli, romaine lettuce, and carrots take on a new character when wrapped in foil and cooked on a grill.

How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue: Throw some fruit on the barbie

Step 7: Throw some fruit on the barbie

Grill some fruit for dessert. Pineapples, peaches, nectarines, and plums all barbecue nicely; just spritz them with a little nonstick cooking spray beforehand so they don’t stick to the grill.

Potato salad is the most popular side dish at barbecues, followed by baked beans and coleslaw.

Something wrong?

Report This How-To

Cancel

Comments (0)

There are no comments. Be the first!

or to post a comment. Or, sign in using your Facebook to comment
and share your activity with your friends

Video is in Useful Videos (792 videos)

How To Make a Flag Cake Easy Steps

How To Make a Flag Cake

Now Playing (421 of 792): How To Slim Down Your Backyard Barbecue

How To Make Homemade Ice Cream in a Plastic Bag Easy Steps

How To Make Homemade Ice Cream in a Plastic Bag

How To Set Off Fireworks Safely Easy Steps

How To Set Off Fireworks Safely

open/close
© 2012 Howcast Media, Inc