Healthy Sides for your Memorial Day BBQ

To host a Memorial Day BBQ is a great way to kick of the summer and grilling season. The food on the grill is the star of the show, but you can really have some fun with the side dishes. Keep the planning simple so you can focus on having fun and enjoying your guests when they arrive. 

Mixed Fruit Kebobs

Fruit kebobs are a simple and fun treat to bring to a BBQ. The presentation is much more exciting than a bowl of fruit and you can use any fruit you’d like. These would be good sprinkled with brown sugar and placed on the grill for a sweeter dessert and served warm with ice cream! All you need to do is find some wooden skewers, cut up your fruit into chunks as the skewers soak in water for 30 minutes and skewer away. 

French Style Potato Salad

You can’t have a BBQ without potato salad and this one by Bobby Flay is delicious. In fact, it’s my new favorite and will impress your guests with its flavor.

Capers, mustard, pickles, olive oil-- it’s a great alternative to the typical mayonnaise-based potato salads you find at typical BBQs. Another bonus is you don’t have to worry about keeping it cool as you do with mayonnaise-based ones. You can grill per the directions or you can just boil the potatoes like you would with regular potato salad. I also cut back on the amount of oil in this recipe by omitting the 1/4 cup recommended before grilling. There was plenty of oil in the dressing. This potato salad has a ton of flavor!

You can always find high fat meats at BBQ celebrations like burgers, sausage, hot dogs and of course lots of snacks like chips and dips. Try serving a healthy side such as grilled vegetables with fresh basil and Parmesan. There are several options for what type of veggies you can grill, just use this same method using equal weight in the vegetable of your choice. 

Grilled Veggies with Basil & Parmesan

Serves 8-10

1 small eggplant, sliced in rounds 1/4 inch thick
2 squash, sliced lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick
2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick
1 red onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 lb. asparagus, ends trimmed
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided use
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided use
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/3 cup shaved Parmigianno Reggiano cheese

DIRECTIONS

Toss vegetables with olive oil, chopped garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2  teaspoon pepper.

Place a grill pan on medium high heat coated with cooking spray.

Place vegetables in a single layer and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side until fork tender and nice grill marks appear (will probably have to grill 2 batches) . Remove from grill back into pan they were marinating in. Toss with vinegar, lemon juice, additional 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with basil and parmesan.

Hope you enjoy these three healthy sides to compliment your delicious barbeque. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!