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From burgers to barbecued chicken, many of the best grilled foods are served with creamy condiments—often packing on calories and fat.
Next time you’re ready to grill, experiment with new ways to create simple but robust flavors using fewer ingredients through simple swaps.
Rice vinegars offer a healthy alternative to condiments like mayonnaise or a creamy dressing when grilling.
Keeping meals simple is easy with naturally gluten-free Nakano Rice Vinegar, which includes six or fewer simple ingredients with no artificial preservatives, flavors, or ingredients, and no high-fructose corn syrup or MSG.
Dawn Jackson Blatner, star of ABC’s My Diet Is Better than Yours, author of Superfood Swap, and a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant for the Chicago Cubs, has created healthy dishes to heat up the grill this season.
Grilled Meatballs and Zoodles
Servings: 4
Meatballs
- 1 pound organic ground turkey or grass-fed ground beef
- 1 cup organic kale, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup crushed brown rice crackers
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- Nonstick cooking spray
Salad
- 4 medium zucchini
- 2 cups organic cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup Nakano Rice Vinegar – Natural or Nakano Organic Rice Vinegar – Natural
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Heat grill to medium.
In large mixing bowl, combine ground meat, kale, crackers, egg, chili pepper flakes, and salt. Use hands to form mixture into 12 balls. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes to help meatballs set.
Mist meatballs with nonstick cooking spray and place them on grill. Grill each side 3-4 minutes, using tongs to flip to sides that haven’t been browned yet. Meatballs should reach internal temperature of 165 F.
Using vegetable spiralizer, create zucchini noodles. Toss zucchini with tomatoes, Parmesan, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Serve each zoodle plate with three meatballs.
Nutritional information per serving: 350 calories; 20 g total fat; 6 g saturated fat; 240 mg sodium; 14 g carbs; 3 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 32 g protein.
Tuna-Stuffed Avocado
Servings: 2
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 can (5 ounces) tuna packed in water, drained
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons Nakano Rice Vinegar – Natural or Nakano Organic Rice Vinegar – Natural
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 16 brown rice crackers
Cut avocado in half, remove pit, and scoop out flesh, leaving thin wall of avocado. Dice avocado flesh and set shell aside for serving.
In small bowl, combine tuna, celery, carrot, onion, vinegar, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Gently stir in diced avocado.
Scoop mixture into avocado shells and serve with brown rice crackers.
Nutritional information per serving: 360 calories; 19 g total fat; 3 g saturated fat; 530 mg sodium; 26 g carbs; 9 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 22 g protein.
(Family Features)