How to cook healthy on the grill

The griddle allows you to quickly and easily cook healthy, nutritious and appetizing dishes. In this article we show you how to cook on the grill properly.

Is it healthy to cook on the grill?

Food, cooked with the intense heat of the fire and with almost no added fat, they retain their juices and also their most vital nutrients, so they provide a light and tasty meal.

The only drawback of the griddle is that excessive cooking can burn the food and give it, in addition to an unpleasant taste, undesirable residues due to the degeneration of carbohydrates and proteins. For this reason, it is highly recommended to use the iron well and not exceed the cooking time.

vitamins and minerals of food, by using intense and brief heat, they keep much longer than with other cooking media that deteriorate or eliminate them.Carbohydrates and proteins are transformed to gain digestibility, and fats of the final plate they are scarce as it is hardly necessary to add them for cooking.However, the black color of the burned, which seems inherent to some grilled preparations, warning of its harmfulness. You must try to get a tan color, never black.

How to choose a kitchen griddle?

To achieve the best results, the iron must be somewhat thick and heavy.made of a material that retains heat well.

Normally you use the cast aluminum with non-stick coating or stainless steel, although there are also plates that use a special stone or slategood transmitter of heat.

He material must be chosen taking into account if it is going to be cook with ceramic hob, gas or induction.

There are also electric irons that are easy to use and transport. Some can even be used for cooking at the table. They are comfortable and some models combine different grills, smooth, grated or with supports for melting cheese.

If the iron has a groove aroundbetter, because The fats that come off cooking They will not affect food.

In the absence of an iron, a nonstick frying pan with a few drops of oil It can fulfill the same functions, but you have to be careful because the material is usually thinner and food can burn.

How to clean the iron?

When cleaning the iron, it should be allowed to cool and scrub with a sponge, without scratching the surface.

When the fat is very stuck to the plate, it is best to clean it hot with a splash of vinegar or a handful of salt. to help descale. It is removed with the help of kitchen paper.

In restaurants, plates and grills are usually cleaned with icebut this method, although effective, produces sudden changes in temperature that do not benefit the material.

To cook foods with strong and incompatible flavorslike meat and fish, better clean the griddle with salt or vinegar between each use or cook meat before fish.

What can be cooked on the grill?

Many foods are provided to this cooking method. Just a few tips and imagination.

The parts for the iron they must be rather thin and small for best results.

Finally, as it is a simple cooking, it must be taken into account that the product must be very freshsince the iron highlights both its virtues and its defects.

Grilled vegetables

Some vegetables need prior cooking or marinating to soften them and give them a touch more flavor.

courgettes. The small courgettes are grilled whole and salted at the end. The big ones are cut into sheets or slices without peeling, previously salted so that they soften. They can be strung on skewers, in pieces or rolled strips. They are seasoned with basil, sage and parsley.Potatoes, carrots and beets. Boiled or roasted in the oven and then sliced, they are excellent grilled. For the potatoes, an allioli or a mustard sauce. Beets combine with apple. And the carrots, with a curry sauce.Onions, leeks and young garlic. The onions are thinly sliced ​​and salted before grilling. The rest scald. They are accompanied with a romesco sauce.Peppers. Although they are best roasted in the oven, they can be cut into strips and grilled. Garlic and coriander go well.mushrooms. Whole or sliced. They cook quickly and are accompanied by garlic and parsley. It is better to remove the foot so that they cook better.Eggplants. Sliced ​​or sliced; they are salted before passing them through the iron. They are served with tomato.Green tomatoes. They are cut into slices and lightly roasted.Green asparagus. They gain flavor on the grill slightly peeled. They should be crunchy.Mix of vegetables cut into strips. They can be cooked on the grill and season with sake and soy saucein the manner of a tepanyaki Japanese.Endives and lettuce heads. They are roasted once scalded. They combine with white, cheese and dried fruit sauces.

grilled fruits

Apples, pears, figs, bananas with skin, mango, pineapple… can be prepared on a flat griddle with live fire, with a very agile cooking. Should be manipulate with spatula.

Grilled tofu and seitan

He tofuCut into slices, drain, brush with oil and cook quickly. is served with soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic and ginger.

He seitan it cooks like a steak. One has to dry it well before cooking it.

10 tricks to cook on the grill

Cooking on the grill is very simple but knowing some small culinary “secrets” help to significantly improve the results.

Heat the iron properly It is one of the essential requirements for good cooking. Put it on the fire, let it heat up, clean it with kitchen paper and, if you use it, then add the oil, with the plate already hot. preheat the griddle with a moderate flame, to avoid sudden changes in temperature. The heat must be felt by placing the hand above the iron. It is better heat the griddle before pouring the oilso that it does not deteriorate if it burns.Center the griddle on the fire so that the heat is distributed evenly. Once the right temperature is reached, the food is cooked with little fat and without allowing it to stick: the thicker the food, the softer it has to cook.To cook vegetables it is necessary to wash and cut them properly. Some must be peeled, such as onions, young garlic or carrots. Others can be cook with the skinsuch as zucchini, eggplant and peppers.Marinate vegetables before cooking enhances its flavor. You can use a dry marinade, only with aromatic plants, or a marinade that mixes olive oil and some acid ingredient, such as citrus or vinegar. The vegetables are thus juicier and with a golden hue.If the vegetables are cut into pieces it is better to skewer them on a wooden or metal skewer that makes turning them easier. To cook evenly, pieces of similar size must be cut. If the surface of the griddle is grooved, once the pieces have the first marks, they can be rotate 45° so that a grid is drawn.On some occasions they can shield food with aluminum foil to soften cooking and prevent sticking grilled.