FitSugar

Spice Up Your Grilled Burgers and Reduce Your Cancer Risk

FitSugar — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:00:19 PDT

With Memorial Day kicking off the unofficial start to grilling season, it's likely there are plenty of burgers in your near future. Unfortunately, cooking meat at high temperatures (like grilling) can create carcinogenic chemicals known as heterocyclic amines (or HCAs), which have been linked to cancer risk. The good news? Certain add-ins can make your meat much safer to cook - and more flavorful, too!

Studies have found that adding rosemary to uncooked meat will greatly reduce the amount of HCAs found in your beef after cooking, attributed to the antioxidant carnosol. If rosemary isn't your thing, there are other ingredients that work, too. To find out what they are, keep reading

Healthy Eats: Add Bulgur to Your Burger

FitSugar — Sun, 30 May 2010 04:30:07 PDT

I have always been a fan of the burger. In my vegetarian days, the scent of hamburgers cooking on the grill made my tummy rumble, and veggie burgers never satisfied my yearning for the all-American grillable sandwich. Taste buds aside, ground beef is not necessarily the healthiest choice. These days, I add whole grains to my hamburger patties. Not only does this add fiber to a food otherwise lacking, but the additional grains mean each burger contains less fat and cholesterol. For fortifying my burgers, bulgur is my grain of choice (it's a culinary tradition in healthy Mediterranean cooking to add this grain to ground meat), but brown rice works well too.

If you're grilling this weekend, check out this recipe when you

Beef and Bulgur Burgers
Whole Foods

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 cup bulgur wheat
Canola oil
1 1/4 pounds (95-percent) lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion, plus sliced onion for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
6 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted
Green or red leaf lettuce
2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a small pot over medium high heat. Add bulgur, cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until water is almost absorbed and bulgur is just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat and set aside for 5 minutes. Uncover pot, fluff bulgur with a fork and set aside until cooled.
Grease grill grates with oil and preheat to medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together beef, bulgur*, parsley, cumin, cinnamon, allspice and chopped onion. Form mixture into 6 patties and season all over with salt and pepper.
Grill patties, flipping once, until deep golden brown and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes per side. (Alternatively, cook burgers using 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat.) Transfer burgers as done to hamburger buns, top with lettuce, tomatoes and sliced onions and serve.

Serves 6.

*I don't like to mix in all two cups of the cooked bulgur. I usually add around a cup and a half. If you use all the bulgur, the burgers have a tendency to fall apart.

Per serving (about 11oz/321g-wt.): 360 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 50mg cholesterol, 460mg sodium, 46g total carbohydrate (9g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 26g protein

Print recipe with images | without images
Dying to share one of your favorite recipes? We're dying to hear about it, so share it in the Healthy Recipe Group.

Source

Healthy BBQ: Not So Healthy Whole Wheat Buns

FitSugar — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:30:20 PDT

Memorial Day kicks off the unofficial start of Summer, and for many of you that means a weekend of BBQs. Most people I know are all about the grillables and the sides: special recipes for homemade burgers, perfectly marinated chicken and ribs, veggie kabobs, and creamy potato salad. But when they hit the grocery store to pick up all the essentials, they don't pay much attention to their buns, and there's something you should know. The whole wheat buns you're buying may not be so healthy. Gasp! They might say "made with whole wheat," or they look brown, but that doesn't mean they don't contain enriched flour and corn syrup of the high fructose variety. Check out the surprising ingredients in these popular buns and rolls:

Pepperidge Farms 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns: high fructose corn syrup
Whitewheat Hot Dog Buns: enriched wheat flour.
Arnold Select Wheat Hot Dog Rolls: enriched wheat flour and high fructose corn syrup
Country Kitchen Whole Grain Wheat Hot Dog Rolls: high fructose corn syrup

Don't fret. There are many healthy options out there to house your burgers and hot dogs, so

Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins: These "rolls" are much thinner than normal bulky buns and only 100 calories each. They're made with whole wheat flour and no high fructose corn syrup.
Barowsky's Organic Hot Dog Buns: Made with organic whole wheat flour, each bun contains 150 calories, one gram of fiber, and seven grams of protein.
Pepperidge Farm 100% Natural 100% whole wheat bread: Who said you have to have a real bun? Grill up some sliced bread instead. Each one of these slices contains 100 calories, three grams of fiber, and four grams of protein.
Go open-face with half a bun, or no bun at all and save 50 calories or more.
Go South Beach like In-N-Out Burger: Instead of worrying about which buns are healthy, wrap your hamburger in leaves of fresh, crispy lettuce. It's much lower in calories and carbs, so you can save room for your gram's famous macaroni salad.

Speak Up: How Do You Avoid Overeating at Barbecues?

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:03:34 PDT

Hot dogs and hamburgers are comfort foods of Summer, and I'm sure by now you've eaten your fair share at all the barbecues you've been frequenting. Aside from those staples, grilled corn smothered in butter, potato salad, chips and dip, and cold beer are also favorites. With all this irresistible food, I'm wondering, what are some tips you can suggest to fellow FitSugar readers to help avoid overeating at the next BBQ?

Healthy Side Dishes and Desserts

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:30:46 PDT

Barbecues are a great way to chill out with your friends, but they can be a disaster for your waistline. Be proactive and bring side dishes and desserts you know are healthy and diet-friendly. This way you can spread the health while ensuring you have something to eat. Here are some ideas.

Good Buns Are Hard to Find

FitSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:00:00 PDT

If you're trying to make your barbecue a little healthier by grilling up salmon burgers instead of ones made out of beef, don't skimp on the buns. It is easy to be fooled by ones that look healthy, but still have enriched flour listed as the first ingredient. As you'll recall, enriched flour is made when good old healthy wheat flour is processed and stripped of all the nutrients, and then companies add a little back in. The word "enriched" sounds healthy, but this is not what you want to be eating.

Go on a bun mission to find ones made with whole wheat flour. But don't stop there - make sure your buns are free of corn syrup as well. If you're in a bun conundrum and can't find any made with healthy ingredients, pick up some regular bread and use slices of that as your bun.

Keep the BBQ Healthy Today

FitSugar — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:00:00 PDT

One of my favorite things about the Fourth of July is firing up the grill. Not only is grilling a great way to cook a tasty meal, but it's also a fabulous way to trim down the fat. Use my tips to keep your barbecue healthy this holiday weekend.

Source

Food Review: Sunshine Burger

FitSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:00:00 PDT

I'm so psyched for BBQs now that the weather is so warm. I always like to keep a box of veggie burgers in the freezer just in case I don't feel like a regular burger, or if we have vegetarian guests over. Now that meat alternatives are so popular, there are so many different kinds to try out, like this Organic Sunshine Burger. Not only are they vegetarian, but they're also vegan, soy free, and gluten free.

Want to see what these burgers really look like and find out how they taste? Then

When I read the ingredients, I was surprised to see that these burgers are mostly made from ground up raw sunflower seeds and rice, which gives them a soft, slightly squishy texture. The mild flavor came from the black beans, peppers, cilantro, garlic, jalapeño peppers, cumin, and onion. It was slightly spicy, but I was expecting more of a kick. It did grill well and didn't stick to the grate like some meat alternatives, like tofu pups, can. Since these burgers are pre-cooked, they only need a few minutes on the grill to heat through. Overall, I found these Sunshine Burgers to be just OK. They were a little too dry for my tastes and honestly, I wanted more flavor.

Serving Size	1 patty
Calories	240
Total Fat	12g
Saturated Fat	1.5g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	240mg
Carbs	26g
Fiber	9g
Sugar	2g
Protein	6g

5 Things: Marinate for Your Health

FitSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT

BBQ season is upon us and while grilling is an easy and low fat way to cook food (compared to sautéing in oil or butter). Here are five things I thought you might want to know about the whys and hows of marinating.

Marinating meat, fish and poultry significantly decreases the amount of carcinogenic HCAs (heterocyclic amines) produced when the meat is cooked at high temperatures, like in grilling. Marinades can reduces the HCAs by as much as 99 percent.
Marinades may slow the growth of harmful bacteria, like listeria.
Marinating meat with naturally acidic ingredients, like vinegar or citrus juices, tenderizes the meat, breaking down the proteins making the meat easier to digest. Plus it helps lock in the moisture so the meat won't dry out and toughen up.
To keep the calorie count down, only use one-half cup of marinade to every pound of meat. This will be enough to coat the meat, but cuts down on excess.
Never marinate meat at room temperature. Although marinade can slow the growth of harmful bacteria, it cannot stop them completely, so marinate your meat in the fridge.

Have fun grilling!

Source

Healthy BBQ: Grilling Meat at High Temps

FitSugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:30:00 PDT

It's barbecue time again, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I love grilling, but it's important to keep food safety in mind when firing up the grill. I always try to marinate the meat before cooking, in hopes of reducing the production of carcinogens, but the high heat can also produce chemicals with cancer-causing properties. This does not mean you should skip the grill this weekend (or all Summer); just follow these simple tips from the Harvard Health Letter for keeping grilling safe:

Cook smaller pieces: They cook more quickly and at lower temperatures.
Choose leaner meat: Less fat should reduce flames and therefore smoke.
Precook in the microwave: Doing so for two minutes may decrease heterocyclic amines by 90 percent, according to some research.
Flip frequently: That way, neither side has time to absorb or lose too much heat.

Source