A Bit on the Side… of Your Barbecues!

Article By: Sue Ashworth

Barbecues… surely one of the highlights of warm weather eating. Appealing to smell and taste, the array of food and drinks should also appeal to sight. Far from being a meat and beer affair, brightly coloured sides and salads can work hard to stimulate the senses and make the meal unforgettable. So take our tips on how to make the most of your grill-side experience…

Simple is Best
Summer barbecues are such fun - and easy to put together - so long as you keep things simple. There's no need to overdo the choice on mains - just go for one or two options, such as steak or lean hamburgers, then choose chicken, lamb or vegetable kebabs. And for the pièce de résistance, add three or four interesting side dishes to fill out your plates and make your meal complete.

Time Wise
If time is of the essence, or your barbecue is a last minute affair, choose extras that you can throw together in a matter of minutes. It takes no time at all to put together a healthy, chunky salad or make your own version of potato salad that tastes far better than any bought version – just follow our easy ideas here. Don't just rely on convenience foods – they rarely taste as good as home-made, they can be pricey, and you don't have the same control over what goes into them.

Keep Cool!
Be aware that food must be kept cool and covered. Bacteria love warm temperatures and will grow at an alarming rate – so please do not leave food sitting in the warm sun. If you can, prepare ahead and keep things refrigerated or in a cool box with ice packs until you need them. Always keep food covered with a lid or cling film – and keep it like this until the food is served. Humans aren't the only hungry creatures around!

Lighten Up
Move a million miles away from salads in oily dressings, potato salads with high fat mayonnaise or rich, cloying coleslaw. With a few clever changes, you can prepare options that taste every bit as good, with far less fat.

First off, boil some small new potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until tender for a potato salad. Whilst they are cooking beat together equal quantities of low fat soft cheese and low fat plain yogurt. Add a couple of tablespoons of chopped fresh chives or parsley – and a squeeze of garlic puree, if you like. Drain and cool the potatoes, then add the dressing and stir it through. Delicious!

Next, make a healthy, colourful salad with chunky chopped cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, radish, chopped spring onions and chunks of red and yellow peppers, seasoned with black pepper and tossed in lemon juice. Lovely!

For your vitamin A hit, how about a fresh carrot and toasted seed salad? Just peel and coarsely grate a couple of large carrots, then toss them with 50g of raisins or sultanas and 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds mixed with 2 tsp toasted sunflower seeds. Add a few drops of white wine vinegar - and you're there. (To toast the seeds, put them into a large saucepan and dry-fry them until they start to brown lightly – take care that you don't burn them).

Why not make refreshing coleslaw that's so much tastier than bought versions? Just finely shred some hard white cabbage, add a grated carrot, some finely chopped red onion, a couple of sticks of sliced celery and a chopped cored apple. Add a little finely grated lemon zest, then dress in low fat natural yogurt. Crispy, crunchy and so good for you!

Fancy a slice of garlic bread? Make a low fat version by simple rubbing cut cloves of garlic over the surface of slices of French bread, then place them on the barbecue for a few seconds to toast them – just on one side, or they will become too crunchy.

Tzatziki makes a terrific topping for barbecued food. All you do is mix about one quarter of a finely chopped deseeded cucumber and 2 tbsp of chopped fresh mint with a 150g pot of 0% fat Greek-style yogurt.

Veg out with lots of barbecued fresh sweetcorn, peppers and courgettes. Simply cut the courgettes into thick slices on the diagonal, cut the peppers into large pieces and slice the sweetcorn in half. Grill over the coals for about 5-8 minutes until nicely char-cooked, adding sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary for an extra flavour hit. Fabulous. Seems like your barbecues will be the flavour of the month!