Here’s how to grill healthy food…
For many people, summer season is also grilling season. But for your next cookout, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics mentions these barbecue safety suggestions:
• Buy two sets of grilling tools (one for raw meat and one for cooked meat), as well as a meat thermometer to make sure your food is thoroughly cooked.
• Grill lean meats to avoid flame flares caused by fat drippings.
• Don’t allow your food to become charred. Some studies suggest charred meat may be linked to cancer. Let your meat marinate for a few hours before cooking to help reduce the chances of charring.
For Grilling Veggies
Oil Them Up
Vegetables dry out when they hit the heat without a little oil. Before they hit the grill, toss them with a light coating of oil. Don’t use too much—it not only adds unnecessary calories, but dripping oil causes flare-ups and off flavors. Plus tossing them in oil helps your seasoning stick more uniformly.
Size Matters
How you prep your vegetables dictates how they will cook. Cut them into smaller pieces if you want your vegetables to cook more quickly (and use a skewer to keep the on the grill). Cut round vegetables like onions or eggplant into thin “rounds”—you’ll get more surface area, which allows for a crispier outside, and because they’re thin, they’ll cook quickly.
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For Grilling Meats
Beat The Heat
Remember, the flame or the amount of heat is everything for meat. Make sure your heat is evenly distributed around the area of where you are grilling the meat. I like to have a certain section on the grill that is cooler, only slightly warm, so that I can place that meat to finish cooking. Everywhere else should be hot.
Don’t Flip Out
Many grillers make a mistake by flipping your meat too many times. Remember for:
burgers – flip once
Steaks – flip multiple times throughout cooking
Chicken – a few times
Salmon – only once right before its done just to get grill marks
Additionally, there are two carcinogens that you should be aware of:
1. What are HCAs?
Heterocyclic amines, or HCAs, are carcinogenic compounds created when meat is heated up. It has been shown to increase the risk of breast, lung, stomach, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.
Marinate meat. It can lower HCAs by as much as 99 percent. Rosemarry, tumeric, and avocado oil are some of the best ingredients to use.
2. What is acrylamide?
Acrylamide is a naturally-occurring compound formed when starchy foods are cooked at 250° F or higher. Based on lab animal studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified acrylamide as a “probable human carcinogen.”
Soak potatoes. Soak raw, sliced potatoes in water for two hours to slash acrylamide by nearly 50 percent. Avoid storing potatoes in the refrigerator, which encourages them to produce more acrylamide during cooking.
Visit the BlackDoctor.org Cancer center for more articles and tips.
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