Summer is officially here and having a balanced plate is important!
It’s a beautiful time of year when families and friends make more time for adventures, get togethers and time spent outside. With the grill fired up in the backyard and fresh summer produce abundant, fueling well can be quick, delicious, healthy, and easy to share!
Eating early and often throughout the day with quality, balanced food choices can help you stay healthy and happy year round. Grilling makes it easy to balance your meals with high quality choices.
Reminders on how to build a balanced plate and why….
Important Meal Components: To build an energy and nutrient packed nutritious meal, include these 5 components.
- Fruits and Vegetables (antioxidant-rich foods; aid in immunity and health): Build your plate around non-starchy vegetables; aiming for at least 3 different colors at each meal. Portable fruits are great for snacks; a mixed fruit salad compliments a BBQ. In season examples: blueberries, strawberries, avocado, bell peppers, green beans, melon, cucumbers, avocado, tomatoes. Skewers loaded with veggies are great for the grill.
- Whole Grains and Starchy-Vegetables (energy-enhancing foods):Brown rice; quinoa; amaranth; buckwheat; millet; oats; whole-grain pasta; potatoes / sweet potatoes and corn. Throw potatoes wrapped in tinfoil and seasoned with olive oil and rosemary on the grill; or grill soaked corn in their husks or wrapped in tinfoil seasoned with cayenne pepper and lemon.
- Lean Proteins (recovery/ muscle-building foods/ aids in immunity and preventing muscle loss): Most proteins are great on the grill! From grilled chicken and fish, to lean ground turkey burgers and lean red meat skewers with fresh herbs and spices, the options are great in variety. Try veggie burgers or tofu as an alternative to meat for some grilling days.
- Healthy Fat (heart health / joint health / brain health / flavor-boosting foods): Nuts; nut butters; seeds; olive oil; avocado oil, sesame, avocado; salmon and other fatty fish. Add avocado or peanut butter to your burger and tops salads with sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds!
- Fluid (hydration-promoting beverages): Water; unsweetened iced tea; fruits and vegetables.
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