Frugal and Healthy Grilling

When I walk around the neighborhood these days, I can always smell the (delicious) smells of sizzling meat on various grills.  I must admit that I don’t grill that often.  The whole production of cleaning and preparing the grill seems to prevent me from grilling more regularly.  In addition, in recent years, we have been eating less meat, and as a kid, grilling meant hamburgers, steak, and barbecued chicken.  However, as I learn more about preparing different kinds of food, I must admit that the grilled taste is unrivaled for the delicious smoky taste it imparts.

These days when I grill, I try to incorporate lots of vegetables. Frugal choices include marinated zucchini and corn, which can be served as is, or cut up and sprinkled with Italian seasonings and a small amount of parmesan cheese.  A favorite vegetable that is spectacular when grilled are artichokes.  Parboil artichokes until just tender, halve them, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill.  And to finish off dinner, I like to try grilled fruit, with seasonal stone fruits: peaches, nectarines, and plums, especially well suited for grilling as is pineapple.

For the meats, after reading about the dangers of carcinogenic compounds created by burning meat, I use a controversial method of parboiling the meat first, and then brushing with barbecue sauce and grilling only for the final 5-10 minutes to give the barbecue sauce a nice finish.  I find that inexpensive cuts of chicken on the bone (such as drumsticks) are fully cooked this way, and not burned on the outside. I also prepare ribs this way, so that the ribs are slow cooked until very tender indoors (either boiled or slow baked for about an hour and a half), and only finished on the grill.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

2 zucchini, cut into thick slices
1 eggplant, cut into thick slices
1 red pepper, cored and cut into halves
2 ears of corn
1 red onion, cut into thick slices
2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper, red pepper, dried basil to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
parmesan cheese (optional)
fresh herbs (optional)

In a large bowl, combine oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, basil and garlic.  Brush on vegetable slices.  Grill vegetable slices over medium heat until tender, about 6-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Cut vegetables into bite sized chunks and place in bowl, season with additional olive oil and vinegar if it appears dry.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and fresh basil or parsley if desired.

Grilled Pineapple

1 fresh pineapple
oil for grill

Cut the pineapple into thick rings, or core and cut diagonally into thick wedges.  Be sure the grill is clean and oiled and grill until slightly charred on outside, but not mushy, about 3 minutes per side.  I usually do not add butter or sugar and grill these plain and then serve with toppings (like ice cream) as desired.

see other tips at Frugal Friday, Ultimate Recipe Swap and Food Renegade and Real Food Wednesdays