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| Sweet Grills
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| It’s a culinary match made in heaven. Looking for a sizzling good—and good-for-you—time this summer? Kiss that big fat steak goodbye and toss some fruit, veggies, salad and even dessert on the backyard BBQ and experience the thrill of joy meets grill.
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With summer here, it's time to fire up the barbecue and get those bananas and slices of pound cake ready for the grill.
You were expecting burgers, kebobs and chicken, perhaps?
Meat, poultry and fish remain outdoor cooking favorites, but changes in eating habits and a new spirit of culinary adventure have hugely expanded grill-top choices. It's not only root vegetables, but salad greens, fruit and, yes, even cake that are finding their way to the backyard bbq.
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"People grill outside because the food tastes so good," says Karen Adler, co-author with Judith Fertig of the BBQ Queens' Big Book of Barbecue (available at www.amazon.com). "Emphasis on healthy eating has spurred Americans to add more vegetables and fruits to their diets. It's no wonder that grillers are throwing veggies like asparagus, onions,
zucchini, and more onto the grill alongside the lean boneless, skinless chicken or turkey fillet for a delicious yet low-cal meal."
Backyard favorites of the Mission, Kansas-based BBQ Queens include grilled Caesar salad. The lettuce is quartered like an apple, lightly brushed with olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. The cut sides of the romaine are then placed over a hot fire for about 30 to 45 seconds, removed and dressed with Caesar salad dressing.
Okay, savory foods are one thing over the coals or propane flame. But sweet conclusions?
"Dessert on the grill?" responds Fertig. "You betcha. Fruits that you can sauté in a pan can be grilled, too. Try basting the fruit with a little bit of melted butter or melted fruit preserves," she advises. "The aim is to get a bit of caramelization on the fruit and to heat it through. Bananas cut lengthwise, pineapple slices, peaches or plums or apples sliced in half, then brushed with a bit of butter and placed over the hot fire for less than a minute can be plated and served with sprinkles of brown sugar."
In the case of bananas, keep the peel on to contain the contents, which will soften into a pudding-like consistency. Pears, fresh figs and melons like cantaloupe—which can be arranged in kebobs—are also excellent over the grill, the cooking time increasing with the thickness and firmness of the fruit.
For those who prefer, a light vegetable oil like canola can be used in place of butter.
Butter, however, usually plays a role when you get to the pastry end of the barbecue spectrum, notes Fertig.
"Firm, buttery cakes like pound cake are great toasted indoors, so do the same on the grill outdoors," she comments. "Serve with fruit, fresh or grilled, and add a scoop of ice cream or complementary fruit sorbet."
For doubters who think such notions hardly have much to do with, say, traditional, hickory-smoke barbecue, head all the way to Ponca City, Oklahoma where the smokehouse company called Cookshack, Inc. resides. The firm makes smoker ovens of every size and knows every form of smoked pork and beef under the sun.
But the customers have other ideas as well, reports John Shiflet, national sales manager.
"You get everything from soft-shell crabs to eggplant going into the smoker," he says. "People don't limit themselves on what foods they smoke. I've got people who smoke apples and put them in a bowl with ice cream. There's one [food] company that just smokes tomatoes, for about 30 minutes. They actually smoke the tomatoes and put them in a salad. They're still firm."
Expanding the grilling menu creates many new possibilities for making summer barbecue part of a healthy diet—sorry, no pound cake—so that even the renowned Mayo Clinic has promoted the new grilling approaches in its public literature.
One of the Mayo's recommended favorites is meatless pizza, with veggies grilled separately and put aside and then a thin pizza crust brushed lightly with olive oil on the bottom and tomato sauce and low-fat cheese on top.
The bad news—no home delivery—the good news—it’s fun and easy to make and your family and friends will clamor for more.
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