Healthy Grilling IS Possible

Cooking meat over high heat for a long time--the classic cookout technique--produces inflammatory and cancer-causing compounds, but there are ways to enjoy healthy grilling.

As meat on the grill chars, a chemical reaction causes harmful substances to form. The key to healthy grilling is to prepare meat so that doesn’t happen. All it takes is a few tweaks.

• Choose leaner cuts of meat. This prevents melting fat from causing flare-ups that can leave toxins and carcinogens behind.
• Grill meat at about 300 degrees F, maximum.
  • Use a gas grill’s thermometer to confirm.
  • On charcoal grills, fill the basin to about 50 to 75% to maintain low/medium temperature; add briquettes as needed.
  • Compensate for the lower grill temperature by cooking meat for a few more minutes.
• Flip meat often to avoid prolonged exposure to heat on each side.
• Use marinades with vinegar, citrus juice or both. Their acids reduce production of toxins and carcinogens, and citrus is high in antioxidants.
• Flavor with basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano or thyme. In addition to giving a flavor boost, these herbs from the mint family provide antioxidants and help reduce the formation of harmful compounds. Studies show that rosemary drastically reduces how much carcinogens form during grilling. Use dried herb rubs or, even better, incorporate into an acidic marinade like today’s recipe.
• Grill fruits and vegetables as much as you please. The cooking technique produces no carcinogens and very low inflammatorysubstances in veggies and fruit.
• Complement your healthy grilling menu with meat prepared by braising or in a countertop slow cooker.

Citrus Marinade

Makes 1.5 cups--4 servings.

Per serving: 19 calories, 0 g total fat (0 g saturated fat), 5 g carbohydrates,
0 g protein, 0 g dietary fiber, 0 mg sodium.

Ingredients

• 1 cup, orange juice
• 1/4 cup. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup. lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp., ground coriander [is this dried cilantro?]
• 1 tsp., lemon-pepper seasoning

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large, non-metal dish or bowl. (If you wish, set aside some of the mixture to mix with oil for salad dressing.)
2. Add food to be grilled and turn to coat all sides.
3. Cover and refrigerate for one to six hours.
4. When ready to grill, remove meat and discard marinade.

Recipe courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research.

This post was written by Sotiria Everett, RD, of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health.

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