Week of May 28, 2006

Guide to Grilling Vegetables

Before grilling, rinse, trim, cut up, and precook vegetables as directed below. To precook vegetables, bring a small amount of water to boiling in a saucepan; add desired vegetable and simmer, covered, for the time specified in the chart. Drain well.

Test for medium or high temperature on grill. Brush vegetables with olive oil. Place the vegetables on a lightly oiled grilling tray or vegetable grilling basket, on a piece of heavy foil, or directly on the grill rack, perpendicular to the grates, directly over preheated coals. Grill vegetables,uncovered for the amount of time given below or until tender, turning occasionally. Monitor the grilling closely so vegetables don't char and blacken.

Vegetable	Prep	Precooking	Direct Grill Time
Asparagus	Snap off tough ends and discard	3 to 4 minutes then tie in bundles with kitchen twine	3 to 5 minutes
Beets	Trim & cut 1/2 inch thick		25 minutes
Broccoli / Cauliflower			5 to 10 minutes
Carrots	Diagonally cut 1/2 inch thick	3 to 5 minutes	15 to 20 minutes 3 to 5 minutes if using baby
Corn on the Cob	Remove husks; scrub ears 20 to 30 minutes to remove silks; rince, pat dry		20 to 30 minutes
Eggplant	Cut off the top and blossom 8 minutes ends; slice cross-wise 1inch thick or 1/4 inch thick.		8 minutes
Fennel	Snip off feathery leaves; 10 minutes, then cut 8 minutes cut off stems.	10 minutes; then cut into 6 to 8 wedges	8 minutes
Leeks	Cut off green tops; trim bulb roots; remove tough, outer layers	10 minutes or until tender then halve lengthwise	5 minutes
Mushrooms			7 to 10 minutes
New Potatoes	Halve crosswise	10 minutes until almost tender	10 to 12 minutes
Onions	Slice in 1/2 inch slices		8 to 10 minutes on tray 3 to 5 minutes directlyon grill
Pattypan Squash	Rinse and trim ends	3 minutes	20 minutes
Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes	Slice 1 inch thick or 1/4 inch thick	10 minutes then wrap in foil	20 minutes
Sweet Peppers	Remove stems; cut 8 to 10 minutes into quarters; remove seeds and membranes; cut into 1-inch-wide strips		8 to 10 minutes
Zucchini or Yellow Summer Squash	Cut off ends; cut lengthwise 5 to 6 minutes into quarters or slice 1/2 inch thick		5 to 6 minutes

Week of May 21, 2006

If you Don't Know How to Cook . . . Learn!

Be the chef in charge! When you control the ingredients and the calories, fat and portion size of your meal, you can begin to take charge of your health. The fresher and more nicer the ingredients, the easier it is to prepare delicious meals that are low in calories and taste wonderful too!

It's amazing what you can do with simple cuts of lean poultry, meat or pork by adding fresh herbs, onions, garlic, spices and some fresh green or vegetables.

Don't leave what you eat to a frozen entree in a box or a restaurant. Be absolutely positive what you are ingesting by learning to cook it yourself.

Week of May 14, 2006

Know your Labels
Reading nutritional facts on food labels can be a little confusing. The government requirement to list information about fats, cholesterol, fiber, sugar and nutrients leads to a sometimes swirling mix of grams, percentages, calories and footnotes. Many Americans ignore their caloric intake and do not understand the nutritional value of the foods they eat. Nutrition labels can help guide them toward healthier dietary goals. Here are some tips to make you become an educated and healthier consumer. Click on each area for a complete description.

 

Week of May 7, 2006

Reducing the Level of Fat and Calories in Poultry

You can easily lower the fat level in chicken or turkey. The most important thing you can do to get less saturated fat from poultry is to remove the skin, since most of the fat is found here rather than marbled through the meat like beef. Removing the skin from the poultry reduces the calories by at least 20 percent and the fat by 40 - 50 percent. Wow, that is a lot of fat and calories.

Choose white meat over dark meat to get the greatest benefit. Compared with white meat, dark meat is approximately 25 percent higher in calories and over twice as high in fat.

Turkey offers some advantages over chicken. It is around 20 percent lower in calories and 75 percent lower in fat. Three-and-half ounces of turkey breast contain only one gram of fat. Ground turkey patties are a healthy alternative to beef burgers. (Some ground turkey contains a lot of dark meat and a great deal of fat. Read the label to be sure. Mix half ground turkey and half ground turkey breast or have the butcher grind your choice of cut for you.)