3 Tips to Being King (or Queen) of the Grill

The weather's getting warmer, the grass is growing and school is coming to a close, you know what that means? It's almost outdoor grilling season. The thoughts of fresh grilled vegetables and tender, juicy barbecue comes to our minds here in the H3 Healthy Kitchen. So whether you're thinking about pulling out the grill this coming Monday for Memorial Day, wating until the first day of summer in June or even holding out until July 4; we want to share 3 simple, healthy grilling tips to ensure the most delicious food comes off your grill this summer.

1. Don't overcook your meat: This mistake can turn a great cook out into a tough situation, quickly! Have your meat thermometer on hand to check the internal temperatures of your beef, lamb, pork, seafood or ground meat. If you need a quick reference on the best temps, check out our handy dandy chart.

2. Be sure to properly season your meat: Marinate or season any meat at least 20 minutes prior to grilling. Using acidic marinades with white wine, lemon, lime, etc. help to flavor and tenderize meats.

3. Make your own Barbecue sauce: Skip the store bought sauce and  treat your family and guests to the amazing flavor that comes with tasting fresh sauce. Plus, you can enjoy the sauce that much more knowing you created it without all the extra unhealthy calories from those free sugars. Here are 2 of our H3 favorites - Mustard BBQ Sauce and the Original H3 BBQ Sauce.

These are the 3 basic tips to get you into the King of the Grill position with your family. If you want to go a step further, we have best practices for charcoal, gas and electric grills. Test out your new or improved grilling and marinating skills with our Cilantro-Lime Chicken Skewers recipe. Yum.



Cilantro-Lime Chicken Skewers

Ingredients:

4 4oz. Chicken breasts, each breast cut into 6 pc.

1/2 Fresh pineapple, large chunks

16 Wooden skewers, soaked in water

Marinade:

1 Cup Chicken Stock

4 Fresh limes, juiced and zested

1/4 Cup Fresh chopped cilantro

1 Tsp. Minced garlic

1 Tbl. Extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Tsp. Crushed red pepper

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp. Ground pepper

Preparation:

• Combine first 7 ingredients for the marinade, then set aside.


• Arrange chicken and pineapple on skewers, alternating chicken and pineapple.


• Lay skewers in a single layer cover with marinade wrap and chill, leave to marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.


• Remove skewers from marinade and grill skewers.

Nutrition:

Number of Servings: 4 (4 skewers/person)
Calories: 170
Fat: 4