Fourth of July Grilling Tips with Hy-Vee Dietitian
Grilling is one way people in Minnesota embrace summer, and as we near the July Fourth holiday weekend, we once again teamed up with Hy-Vee registered dietitian Alea Lester Fite to talk about different grilling options.
“If I can, I’ll make an entire meal with all my different food groups on the grill,” said Fite, who works with the grocer’s Healthy You subscription plan.
Customers can get food plans, shopping help and other weight loss and healthy living advice.
“People think protein on the grill, which you can absolutely do,” said Fite. “You can do maybe a pork tenderloin for a leaner cut. Fish is great on the grill.”
But she ventured into categories not everyone thinks of when it comes to grilling: fruits, vegetables and grains.
Fite said she likes to grill up potatoes, corn and bread for toasting if she’s making sandwiches.
One option for grilling is fruits like pineapple or even watermelon.
She recommends using a grill basket to cook chopped-up vegetables so they don’t fall through the grates. She places longer vegetables, like asparagus, right on the grates.
“I just toss it with a little bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper and then a little bit of Italian seasoning, too,” she said.
Fite also likes to grill fruit, like pineapple cut into thick, round slices (think: hockey pucks). She also likes to grill watermelon and peaches.
“When you’re picking out your fruit you want to make sure that the pieces are big enough not to fall through, but then you also want to make sure the fruit isn’t overly-ripe,” she said. “The heat from the grill does caramelize those sugars, and start to break them down, and if it’s too ripe, then it will start to fall apart.”
