Spring Fling BBQ/Picnic Recipes

[BlueStar]

Post your healthy summer recipes here!

[Heero]

My food is so bland...

My summers are spent mostly eating grilled chicken, vege's, etc. :\

[BlueStar]

Then ask your momma for one! (or grandmama, sister, co-worker, etc) I am sure someone would help you out!

[BlueStar]

Roasted Bouillon Onions

Take a whole vidalia (or other sweet onion), peel and cut enough off the bottom that it will stand up level and core a hole in the center about the size of a nickel, but don't go all the way down, leave about 1/2 an inch at the bottom solid.

Drop in 1/2 a bouillon cube (I use beef) and a drizzle of olive oil (or a small pat of butter, if preferred). Sprinkle onion with black pepper and garlic powder. Wrap the whole thing in foil and place it on the grill. Cook over a medium flame for 20-40 minutes, until the onion is soft. You can also roast the packet in the oven at 425 for about an hour.

Eat as is, or cut up and put on burgers. Tastes amazing!!

The bouillon can be high in sodium, but overall the recipe is pretty decent in calories/fat/etc.

[M_Marie]

grilled cabbage

( LOOOOOVE THIS STUFF)

Take a head of cabbage and "chunk" it into about 12 little hunks. Take a piece of aluminum foil and tear it in half. Place hunk of cabbage on half a sheet and put a small dab of margarine and salt and pepper on it. Wrap it up and then use the other half of the sheet to wrap it again.
Once all your hunks are wrapped, place it on the grill on medium heat for about 30 minutes on the top rack ( if possible), turn them once or twice

SO FREAKING GOOD.. better than you can imagine!!!

[maverick]

Originally Posted by BlueStar

Roasted Bouillon Onions

^ We do a recipe similar to this, except instead of bouillon we squeeze lemon over the sweet onions and cook them in foil with one slice of lemon each. I bet the bouillon version is really good too though!

[SeeShannonRun]

I always have a lot of cucumber and squash in the summer.

SESAME CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredients

8 cups Thinly sliced cucumbers
1 tbsp Salt
2 Green onions, sliced
1 Garlic clove, minced
2-3 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tbsp Vinegar
1 tbsp Vegetable oil - can EASILY elminate this
1 tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted
1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper

Preparation
Place cucumbers in a colander. Set the colander on a plate; sprinkle cucumbers with salt and toss. Let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse and drain well. In a bowl, combine the onions, garlic, soy sauce, vineager, oil, sesame seeds, and cayenne. Add cucumbers and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

*Be sure to drain the cucumbers really well, otherwise the salad gets too watery.

Calories 37
Total Fat 2 g
Saturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Carbohydrates 4 g
Protein 1 g
Vitamin A 254 IU
Vitamin C 6 mg
Calcium 23 mg
Sodium 1123 mg
Iron 0 mg
Fiber 1 g

Cucumber, Mango and Red Onion Salad

This recipe serves: 4
Preparation time : 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 mango, pitted and cut into large dice
1 red onion, sliced into thin rounds
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt to taste
3 tablespoons cilantro

1. Place the cucumber, mango and red onion in a medium bowl.

2. Season to taste with the lime juice and salt.

3. Garnish generously with cilantro leaves.

Lemony Scallops and Cucumbers
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp olive oil
12 oz cucumber, sliced (about 2 cups)
6 oz yellow pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (or red pepper flakes)
1 lb scallops (halved or quartered, if large)
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
8 oz cherry tomatoes, halved (a little over a cup)

Mix water, lemon juice, and cornstarch together. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in large non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add cucumber, yellow peppers, salt, and pepper and saute until just tender (maybe 5 min).

Move veggies to outside of pan and add scallops. Cook until they've just turned opaque. The scallops will cook very fast, so don't neglect them. Overcooked scallops are not very good.

Toss in the herbs and tomatoes and cook for a minute or so more.

This makes four servings at about 155 calories each. I ate it with brown rice, but it would also be good over polenta or even by itself.
Cooking Instructions


Yogurt Vegetable Salad
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2 to 4 tsp Dijon mustard (depending on how strong the mustard is)
1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
10 oz cucumber, diced
6 oz cherry tomatoes halved
3 tbsp minced mint or basil leaves
sea salt and pepper to taste

4 large servings at 100 calories each or 8 smaller servings.

[Chantal]

I'm usually on dessert duty at our family get-togethers. This one gives 12 servings at 205 calories a pop.

FAT-FREE STRAWBERRY BANANA TRIFLE

16 oz tub fat-free whipped topping
1 pkg fat-free vanilla or banana instant pudding (prepared w/skim milk)
1 small angel food cake
3 c strawberries
4 bananas

1. Allow the whipped topping to thaw.
2. Prepare the pudding according to package directions and allow to set fully.
3. Cut the angel food cake into 1" cubes.
4. Reserve the most flawless strawberry for a garnish. Remove the stems and slice the rest of them.
5. Peel and slice the bananas.
6. In a trifle dish (or glass bowl), layer the cake, pudding, strawberries, bananas, and whipped topping, ensuring that each layer is visible from outside the bowl.
7. Repeat until all ingredients have been used.
8. Place 3-4 cuts in the reserved strawberry and fan it
out. Place atop the trifle.

[Heero]

Salad:

Romaine Lettuce
Mixed Spinach
Crushed Walnuts
Sliced Strawberries
Blueberries
Chopped Carrots

He said he uses oil/vinegar as the dressing, he also said you can add chicken + tomato to it if you want. (Tomato makes it a bit soggy...)

I've had it before and it tastes fine. I never used any dressing!

[Cord the Seeker]

Quinoa Citrus 'Salad'

I'm not one to naturally measure stuff precisely or follow recipes - I tend to wing it when it comes to "exactly how much of seasoning X?". Do with the following as you will.

Amounts in parentheses are my estimations.

Cook up some quinoa (1.5 cups) and let cool. Use 1/4 cup of orange juice in the cooking water to flavour the quinoa.

Add:
Olive Oil (2 Tbs)
Fresh Grated Ginger (not ground - that's important) (1 Tbs)
Lime Juice (or lemon juice) (2 Tbs)
Thyme (freshly chopped if you got it, but dried leaves will do - not ground!)
Pepper
Parsley (freshly chopped) (1 cup)
Green Onions (chopped fine) (1/4 cup)
Nuts/seeds - chopped walnuts are probably best, but pecans, sunflower seeds, pine nuts are all good too (1/4 - 1/2 cup)
Dried Cranberries (1/4 cup) - raisins will do, and chopped dried apricots would be nice too
Orange - peeled, segmented and diced

Directions: Throw it all toegther and eat it.

[Harls]

This Inside-Out Cheeseburger looks delicious!

Here are the ingredients....

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
* 1 pound 90%-lean ground beef
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Click the above link for directions!

[Kara]

Orzo Salad with Feta, Spinach, and Cucumber

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup orzo (I like the Barilla brand best)
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/2 to 1 bag fresh baby spinach, stemmed and chopped or sliced julienne
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the orzo and toast until light brown.

Begin adding the liquid, about 1/2 cup at a time and stirring the orzo until the liquid is absorbed. (This is very similar to how you'd make risotto - but don't obsess - you don't have to stir constantly, just enough to keep things from sticking). As soon as most of hte liquid is gone, add another 1/2 cup or so.

When you're close to adding all the liquid and the orzo is al-dente, add the chopped baby spinach and stir well until it's wilted and dark green. (How much spinach you use depends on how much you like spinach - I'll use a whole bag in this.) Remove from heat, and stir in the crumbled feta.

Let the mix cool completely and add the chopped cucumber for crunch.

Toss with a fork to separate the grains, then chill.

This is a really yummy salad and can be set out at a picnic for several hours w/out worry about it going bad or spoiling, since there's no mayo or cream base.

Feel free to add whatever else you think you might like. Sometime I add chopped sundried tomatoes, or slivered almonds, or whatever.

[SeeShannonRun]

I'm totally not hungry right now, but all of these recipes are making me munchy.

[Cord the Seeker]

Originally Posted by Kara

Orzo Salad with Feta, Spinach, and Cucumber


1 cup orzo (I like the Barilla brand best)
.

I picked up some organic kamut orzo a while back - excellent stuff, high in protein and very tasty.