Make Your Family Dinners Sizzle with Healthy Marinades

[Mr.X]

Make Your Family Dinners Sizzle with Healthy Marinades
(ARA) - Taking time to slow down and share a meal together is a great way to spend quality time with your family, and a good way to make sure the people you love make time for each other. Eating together promotes better communication, shared learning and even better nutrition.

Preparing a tempting meal doesn’t have to mean long hours in the kitchen. Choosing easy-to-make main courses means that you can have a tasty dinner on the table fast, even on the busiest days. And, since this is your family we’re talking about, you’ll want the menu to be healthy as well.

Marinades are a great way to add zip to your food without adding fat and calories. You can add a flavor boost to meat, chicken, fish and vegetables with zesty marinades. An added benefit, marinades help tenderize food and keep it moist during cooking.

Here are a few useful tips for cooking with marinades:

* Use a non-reactive container (one made of glass, porcelain, clay or stainless steel) to marinate your food. Zip-lock plastic food bags also work well. Avoid aluminum and cast iron, which can react with acids in the marinade.

* The container you use should be shallow, so the marinade covers as much of the food as possible; turn the food at least once while marinating.

* When marinating meat, fish or poultry, do it in the refrigerator, not on the kitchen counter, to avoid contracting harmful bacteria.

* Do not reuse leftover marinade. During contact with raw foods, the marinade can pick up harmful bacteria that could make you ill. For the same reason, it’s wise to cook leftover marinade before using it to baste with or to add to a sauce (boil for five minutes to destroy any harmful bacteria).

The flavors you can use to marinate your food are limited only by your imagination. However, if you have more imagination than time, there is a wide variety of choices on your grocer’s shelf. If your goal is a healthy meal, just be sure to choose a marinade that doesn’t include a lot of added fat, chemicals, preservatives and salt. Read product labels carefully to make sure you know what you’re getting.

Michael Chiarello, chef, author and host of the PBS television cooking series “Season by Season,” has teamed with Consorzio to create an all-natural line of marinades with fresh, bold flavors. These products use only natural ingredients and no preservatives, and marinate in 10 minutes.

That means your food will be ready to cook by the time you set the table. If you’re really pressed for time, simply brush the marinade onto the food as it cooks. There are nine flavors to choose from, including Jamaican Jerk, Sesame Ginger and Dijon Peppercorn. The following Greek chicken recipe is a perfect example of how marinades can add excitement to your meals:

Greek Chicken

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped finely

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons Consorzio Roasted Garlic Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 whole chicken legs

Combine all ingredients except the chicken in a non-metal container. Mix well. Add chicken and turn to coat chicken completely. Marinate for up to several hours or overnight. Broil chicken for 10 minutes, 4 inches from heat source, basting with marinade. Turn and broil 10 more minutes or until done. Serves 4.

For more recipe ideas and for information on (or to order) all of Consorzio’s products, visit www.consorzio.com or call (800) 288-1089.

Courtesy of ARA Content
http://www.ARAcontent.com