Grilling is one of the healthiest ways to cook food. Foods retain more of their nutrients when grilled and grilling helps us eliminate fat, because it requires less added oil and, because meat fat can drip away as it cooks. Plus, the flavor of grilled food is hard to match with other types of cooking.
For the carnivores, try THIS awesome recipe for Maple Balsamic Chicken and Bacon Skewers, from A Calculated Whisk. Because, everything tastes better with a little Vermont Maple Syrup. Or, try one of THESE other healthy and tasty grilling recipes.
When grilling meat, be sure to choose locally raised, free-range, and grass-fed options and use a meat thermometer, to ensure you are reaching a safe temperature for consumption. THIS CHART from foodsafety.gov provides a list of minimum safe meat temperatures. It’s also a good idea to trim excess fat from the meat, to avoid grill flare-ups.
To find locally sourced, ethically raised meat, you can support Vermont Farmers registered as grass-fed meat providers using THIS LIST from the University of Vermont. If you live in the Franklin County area, these are two great options:
Stony Pond Farm, Fairfield, VT – “A family-owned, certified organic farm specializing in supreme quality fluid milk and naturally raised 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef.”
Sheldon Creek Farms, Sheldon, VT – “Located on 120 acres and we have 40-50 beef cattle grazing on rotated pastures. We are passionate about our animals and provide a happy, humane life for them on our farm!”
Fresh veggies are also awesome on the grill, with a splash of maple syrup, a shake of your favorite seasoning, or plain, with just a drizzle of olive oil.
One of the best ways to cook veggies on the grill is to toss them together in a packet, with a little olive oil, grass-fed butter, or high heat coconut oil. This is a great option for families, as everyone can create their own, individual packet, to their taste. Seasonal veggies are best and one of my favorite packet combos is a mix of chunked onions, zucchini, yellow squash, and sweet red peppers, with 1 T each olive oil & grass-fed butter, & a little Himalayan Pink Salt & Pepper. If there’s Dill in my garden, I’ll add a little of that, as well. You can be creative with packets and add in meat, rice, or cheese, as they did in some of THESE recipes.
When cooking veggies, be sure to keep the heat fairly low & move/flip them every 5-10 min, to avoid burning.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out THESE ideas from Paleo Leap, for the month of June.
