Happy Fourth of July!

I always feel excited on Friday afternoon of a long weekend.  Even if I don't have anything special planned, holiday weekends feel festive and people are happy.  Of course, I'm always looking for the healthy options, so here are a few thoughts for a July 4 grill or barbecue.

My bias toward vegetables forces me to start with them.  What can you grill?  What vegetable can't you grill?  Try eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, and onions.  Try them plain or with herbs - toss a little rosemary, thyme, oregano, or basil. Of course, there's always chicken and fish for your lean protein.  For dessert, there's no better summer treat than watermelon.  Sugar free popsicles or snow cones (shaved ice with sugar free syrup) are refreshing, too.

One of the greatest parts about grilling is that you don't need a grill.  That's right.  This spring, my coworker taught me the magic of the stove.  You can literally place your vegetables directly on the burner and watch them roast.  My natural laziness has taken the indoor grilling technique a step further.  Now, I grill in the toaster oven.  All I do is turn the temperature up all the way, to about 450 or 500 degrees, and come back about a half hour later.  While this works for all the vegetables I already named, I've been doing this especially often with all kinds of peppers - red and green bell, Anaheim, Pasilla, and even jalapenos.  If you're not into flaming foods, I don't recommend the jalapenos, and you should remove the seeds and veins from the Anaheim and Pasilla peppers, too.

Hope you have a good weekend!