We declare barbecue season open! We explain to you how to benefit from the benefits of this cooking method, we give you some tips for making it lighter and we share some recipes to change the traditional chipo sausages.
At the slightest ray of sunshine, barbecues, skewers and papilottes are out. In addition to being very user-friendly, this cooking method remains particularly beneficial for your health.
How to enjoy the benefits of barbecue?
Focus on vegetables! Forget the thin slices of peppers or the few cherry tomatoes that accompany your meat skewers. Rediscover the flavors of vegetables with generous slices of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, mushrooms and even pineapple! Not only will your antioxidant intake be higher, but your scale and your taste buds will thank you. Colorful and rich in vitamins, seasonal vegetables can even be simmered in a marinade beforehand, to bring full flavor to your barbecue.
Head for lean cuts of meat! Filet mignon, veal, beef steak, chicken breast, poultry or fish skewers… In each meat, there are fatty or, on the contrary, very lean pieces. Don’t you know anything about it? Ask your butcher for advice, he will direct you to the best choice.
A marinade for the soft… Less fatty meat also means drier texture. Make it soft by letting it marinate for two hours with a little olive oil and lemon juice.
Also consider whole fish to grillpreferably rich in protein and omega-3, such as sardines, mackerel, herring, etc.
Choose homemade For your accompanying sauces. For example, mix tomatoes and spices to make a barbecue sauce or even half tomato sauce and half homemade mayonnaise to make your own cocktail sauce.
>> Warning: any material marked by flames remains potentially carcinogenic. To prevent the formation of these carcinogenic chemical compounds, be sure to adjust the cooking height so as not to exceed 220°C. Your food must be cooked by the heat of the embers and not the flames, which reach 500°C. The ideal is to position your grill about ten centimeters from the embers.
Barbecue: how to make it lighter?
- Avoid skewers that alternate cubes of meat and sections of chipolatas or merguez, which are much fattier than those made only from meat.
- Skip the tartar sauce and mayonnaise. Prefer mustard, chopped shallots and fresh herbs. Or a little ketchup or salsa sauce (zero fat).
- For dessert, a large fresh fruit salad. Zero fat, full of fiber, it’s the perfect dessert to end a menu that’s not necessarily easy to digest. Infinitely better than ice cream.
- As an accompaniment, forget the chips. Plan salads: for example Greek (tomatoes, cucumberonion, olive oil), cold ratatouille, homemade tabbouleh… You can also prepare vegetable skewers to cook on the grill: cherry tomatoes, cubes of zucchini and eggplant, peppers and whole mushrooms are perfect for game.
- Don’t forget to prick the sausages while cooking. This will allow the fat to drain. This way, you will easily gain the equivalent of a teaspoon of oil per serving!
