I've been meaning for a while to write about healthy alternatives to the usual summer barbecue foods. My family hosted a desserts-only BBQ for this weekend (which turned into burgers and dogs BBQ), and I feel like I've been doing the circuit of barbecues featuring heavy slaws, burgers with lots of toppings, and rich chocolate chip cookies. While I love these foods as much as anyone, I'm trying to put together a list of the best alternative recipes from across the web to replace these often less-healthy favorites. Here's what I have:
The intensity of the purple caught my eye and said to me that this image deserved to be today's Food Porn Daily picture. I like to do a combination of purple and green cabbage in my slaws, but like the contrast between the cabbage and the pepitas. Thanks to Vvanessa for adding this on to the Slashfood Flickr group (with nearly 8,000 tasty pictures for your viewing pleasure)!
The Thanksgiving tradition from which I come dictates that we do not alter or reimagine the leftovers until several days have elapsed. This is because we all really enjoy just eating plate after plate of reheated stuffing, turkey, potatoes and squash. We are simple like that. However, once Saturday evening arrives and multiple plates of microwaved Thanksgiving food have been consumed, it is time to re-invent a little.
My dad is a fan of chopping everything up into small pieces, throwing it all in a large pan with several spoonfuls of gravy and stirring until it is uniformly brown and chunky. He declares it delicious, the rest of stay far away. My mother eats open-faced turkey sandwiches on squares of whole wheat bread that have been lightly touched with mayo. My sister tends to pick and choose from the leftovers, eating roasted brussels sprouts cold and straight from the peanut butter jars in which they have been stored. Me, I like to match up the turkey and leftover stuffing with freshly cooked veggies. It refreshes the eye appeal and makes the leftover turkey seem new and delicious once again. Some of my favorite quick-cooking veggies after the jump...
On a day that is notorious for junk food, snacks, and deep-fried everything, it's sometimes difficult to slip some vegetables into the mix. Coleslaw is a little deceptive since it is so rich-tasting and creamy, people tend to forget it's packed full of things that are good for you.
Though I tend to make everything from scratch, for an event like Super Bowl I recommend saving yourself the time and effort and just buy the pre-cut coleslaw mix at the grocery store. You could spend a lot of time grating cabbage and slicing carrots, but really, the end product is about the same. Besides, if the bagged stuff is good enough for Paula Deen, it's good enough for me. That said, I refuse to buy a pre-made coleslaw dressing. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.
While there are many barbecue books that focus on the main course, some mention side dishes only in passing, if at all. It can be difficult to master smoking a piece of meat to perfection, but once that meat if ready to be served, you're going to want to serve something with it. The Big Book of Barbecue Sides is all about what to serve with that main course at a barbecue, or any time you're cooking on the grill. It has over 100 recipes and covers more than just coleslaw, though that is the first recipe included in the book. Other topics covered include breads, pastas, salads, veggies and fruits (dessert or side dish), with dishes that can be made on the grill as well as off it. It is great to have all these favorites in one volume that you can keep with your grilling books, rather than having to go searching all your cookbooks for recipes like Red Beans and Rice, Skillet Cornbread, Grilled Corn Salsa, Garlic and Parmesan Spuds and Barbecued Pineapple.
I saw this recipe in an old issue of Cooking Light (from 2003) that I had lying around and it immediately caught my eye. Why I didn't make it the first time I saw it, I'll never know, but I'm glad I did it now.
Waldorf salad isn't something that you see too often, but the combination of apples, raisins, celery and walnuts is not only addictive, but crunchy and satisfying. Coleslaw, too, is crunchy and refreshing, which is why it is such a popular side to accompany rich and meaty meals. Of course, both salads are slathered in mayo, so they're not exactly healthy foods despite having low-cal ingredients. This is one of the reasons why I liked the Cooking Light recipe, since it eliminates a lot of the fat but still tastes great. Combining the elements of the two salads into Waldorf Coleslaw worked beautifully.
A massive meal, the Primanti's Sandwich is the signature sandwich of the Primanti Bros restaurant chain in Pittsburgh, PA. The sandwich
is stacked high with layers of tomatoes, coleslaw, corned beef, cheese and french fries, all sandwiched between two
thick slices of Italian bread. The sandwich was supposedly invented in the 1930's, during the Great Depression. Since the
restaurant owners couldn't afford luxuries like plates and cutlery while they were starting up, the simply piled everything into the sandwich. The entirely
in-hand meal was sold as a convenient, filling and cheap dinner option to all the night shift workers in the area. It
must have been a success right off the bat, since Primanti Bros is still going strong with their famous sandwich over
70 years later.
I've been meaning for a while to write about healthy alternatives to the usual summer barbecue foods. My family hosted a desserts-only BBQ for this weekend (which turned into burgers and dogs BBQ), and I feel like I've been doing the circuit of barbecues featuring heavy slaws, burgers with lots of toppings, and rich chocolate chip cookies. While I love these foods as much as anyone, I'm trying to put together a list of the best alternative recipes from across the web to replace these often less-healthy favorites. Here's what I have:
A massive meal, the Primanti's Sandwich is the signature sandwich of the 
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
