Get grilling for a summer of healthy eating

The secret to eating healthy this summer might just be perched on your patio. Grilling season has begun – and it’s a great way to cook healthy food and even prep meals for the week. 

Your grill is the key to healthy summer meals. Photo by Vincent Keiman via Unsplash.

Your grill is the key to healthy summer meals. Photo by Vincent Keiman via Unsplash.

Tabitha Panetta, training director at Medical Weight Loss Clinic, says - come summertime - her family grills just about everything! She keeps the menus healthy and delicious.

“Grilling is a great way to cook multiple servings that can be used throughout the week,” she says. “The large cooking surface will allow for multiple servings to be made at one time.” 

Favorite meals for those on a Medical Weight Loss Clinic program might include chicken kebabs, lamb burgers or Hawaiian barbecued chicken. And just like cooking in your kitchen, cooking outside gives you control over what ingredients go into your food.

Tabitha keeps plenty of fresh citrus on hand to use as a marinade. She chooses from lemon, lime or oranges, then juices them to use on meats or vegetables. Toss in some fresh herbs and garlic – and the end result is sure to be flavorful and healthy.

“I have started to use ginger recently and I really like it,” Tabitha adds.

She shared a few of her favorite marinades with us:

Lemon Pepper Marinade

Combine:

1 Tbsp Lemon zest

3 Tbsp  Lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 Garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp Black Peppercorns, crushed

Chipotle Marinade

Combine:

2 tsp. Chipotle Peppers

½ tsp. Ground Cumin

½ tsp. Onion Powder

½ tsp. Garlic Powder

¼ tsp. Black pepper

1 Tbsp  Lime juice, freshly squeezed

Fajitas Marinade

Combine:

1/3 cup Lime juice (approx. 2-3 Limes)

¼ cup crushed Pineapple (omit this ingredient if you’re on the Fast Track program)

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 tsp. Ground Cumin

1 tsp. Paprika

½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes, or more to taste

½ tsp. Ground Black Pepper

¼ cup Cilantro, chopped

Tabitha uses a sealable plastic bag or large bowl and plastic wrap to marinade meat or vegetables for grilling. No matter what marinade you try, be sure it includes both an acid – like fresh lemon juice – and some herbs or spices.

While your meal marinates, be sure to keep it in the refrigerator to ensure the food is safe from contamination. Give it time. Start a chicken marinade the night before or at least 30 minutes before it hits the grill.  

When you’re ready to grill, Tabitha reminds us, be sure to discard the rest of the marinade if you’ve had any kind of raw meat or fish in the mix. 

Preparing to grill is simple. And making a marinade is something you can even do in advance. Just be sure to combine the ingredients in a plastic sealable bag, add meat and freeze it if you’re waiting more than a day to grill up the meal.

Get out of the kitchen and fire up the grill this summer. It’s a healthy and delicious way our patients and staff stay on track. Find out more about Medical Weight Loss Clinic’s customized programs. Schedule your free consultation online or by calling 1-800-GET-SLIM.

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When you enroll in a Medical Weight Loss Clinic program, the length of your program will be determined by you and the staff based on the amount of weight you want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it. Your actual weight loss will be determined by many factors, including, but not limited to: your medical circumstances, the plan you choose, adherence to the meal plan and use of nutritional supplements. Your goal and program duration information will be given to you in writing at the time of enrollment. As your program progresses, the rate you lose weight may change and you will have the opportunity to discuss this at every daily visit with your weight loss consultant, where changes to your meal plan and/or program can be made.