Tips for a healthy Memorial Day BBQ and a ‘skinny’ dessert recipe

By Brittany Anas

Photo courtesy of Food Network.

Burgers, brats and potato salad, oh my! A Memorial Day picnic table can be loaded with calories. But it’s also easy to trim the fat, so to say, from some our favorite barbecue staples.

Here are seven tips for a healthier Memorial Day: 

• Shop for lean meats, like 93 percent ground beef, lean ground turkey or lean chicken. Avoid pre-seasoned options because they are loaded with sodium. If you’re trying to cut fat from your diet, a burger made from lean ground turkey or ground chicken is a good alternative to an all-beef burger. To keep it juicy, add hot sauce and low-sodium Worcestershire into your meat mixture before you make your patties.
• Go skinless on poultry and trim off all of the solid fat from the meat that you can see.
• When browning your meat, poultry and seafood, limit the oil. You can use a no-calorie cooking spray and even a little bit of low-sodium chicken broth to keep from burning your meat.
• If you’re using a marinade, look for one with little-to-no fat. Want a good lemon-garlic marinade? Use the juice of 1 lemon, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano to marinate 1 pound of chicken. (Marinade recipe is courtesy of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.)
• Grill, broil or roast your meat and poultry on a rack so the fat drips off.
• Throw some veggies on the grill. Make it fun and festive by putting peppers, onions, mushrooms and zucchini on a skewer. Eat your veggies first. The high fiber content will fill you up and keep you from overeating.
• Instead of setting out chips to snack on, serve healthier alternatives that still have a crunch — like a veggie tray with hummus or pretzel sticks.

We’re loving light, fruity desserts this summer. Patriotic holidays like Memorial Day are the perfect time to use mixed berries to give your dessert a festive mix. Here’s a recipe from Food Network.

Ingredients:

• 1 pint fresh strawberries
• 1 pint fresh blackberries
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

Slice strawberries and combine them in a bowl with blueberries and blackberries. Sprinkle the berries with two teaspoons of your sugar. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and sweeten it with your remaining sugar. Serve berries in small cups with a a couple spoonfuls of the fresh whipped cream.

Shopping for a new grill this season? Get coupons and cash-back offers at Wal-Mart, Target and Lowes.

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