Barbecue lite: cut calories and fat and enhance the flavor of all your grilled foods with these 3 simple techniques - Do-It-Right Nutrition

Summer doesn't officially begin until your barbecue gets sparked for the first time. Grilling (which is simply cooking on a hot grate) is a wonderful way to initiate the season because it's an excellent, lowfat cooking method for a variety of healthful foods -- from seafood and chicken to vegetables and even fruit. To maximize the health-and-nutrition potential of your barbecue, check out the three simple techniques here -- searing, fruit-and-veggie grilling, and butterflying -- along with three delicious recipes, one for each technique.

If you don't have an outdoor grill (or even a backyard), don't worry. These techniques and recipes are ideal for indoor grills -- such as the George Foreman or any other indoor electric grill -- and stove-top grill pans, such as All-Clad or Circulon, which are basically skillets with grates. (Preheat the grill pan just as you would an outdoor grill; cook food at medium-high heat.) Before you get grilling, though, see our tips (at left) so your food will cook perfectly every time.

technique 1: searing

You may think searing, as in "seared tuna," means raw in the middle. Not true: Searing simply means cooking the outside of meat, fish and poultry over very hot heat, and then finishing the cooking by another method. Searing on the grill creates a crisp, flavorful exterior and moist, wonderful interior, locking in flavor without adding fat.

Searing requires both "direct" and "indirect" cooking. First, food is placed on the hottest part of the grill for 2-3 minutes; the hot grate sears the meat, creating a crisp, caramelized texture (and those fabulous chef-quality grill marks). Then the seared food is moved to a cooler part of the grill (over "indirect" heat) with the lid closed to complete cooking. The heat circulates around the food -- similar to roasting -- so there's no need for flipping.

searing steps

1. Place chicken on the hottest part of the grill and cook for 2 minutes. Turn the chicken 45 degrees, without flipping, and cook for another 2 minutes (this produces crosshatch grill marks).

2. Flip and repeat on the other side.

3. If the food needs further cooking, move it to a cooler spot on the grill and close the lid. (Very thin pieces of meat, fish and poultry will cook through in searing steps 1 and 2 and may not need further cooking.)

Seared Chicken in Orange Glaze With Scallion Brown Rice

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Foreman cook time: 12-15 minutes

Nutrient note This meal is a good source of fiber, folate, cancer-fighting sulfur compounds (from green onions), vitamins B and C, and lean protein (from chicken).

Olive-oil cooking spray

1 1/2 cups instant brown rice
    1 cup frozen green peas
    2 green onions, chopped
    Salt and black pepper, to taste
    4 ears of corn on the cob
  1/3 cup orange marmalade
    1 tablespoon reduced-sodium
      soy sauce
    2 teaspoons sesame oil
    4 4-ounce skinless boneless
      chicken breast halves

Spray outdoor grill or stovetop grill pan with cooking spray and preheat. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add brown rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in peas and green onions, cover and cook 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, microwave corn, still in husks, on high for 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle husks, remove them, wrap ears in foil and set aside. (You also can cook the corn directly on the grill, without foil. See "Hints for Grilling Veggies" on page 152 for details.)

In a small bowl, combine orange marmalade, soy sauce and sesame oil. Set aside. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken. Place chicken on the hottest part of the grill and arrange foiled corn around chicken, where grill is very hot. Grill corn for 5 minutes, until tender.

Cook chicken 2-3 minutes per side to sear it, rotating it once per side to create grill marks, then move it to a cooler part of the grill and allow it 5-10 more minutes to finish cooking. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, brush both sides of chicken with marmalade mixture.

Nutrition Score per serving (1 chicken breast half, 2/3 cup rice mixture, 1 ear corn): 510 calories, 15% fat (9 g; 1 g saturated), 57% carbs (73 g), 28% protein f36 g), 8 g fiber, 36 mg calcium, 3 mg iron, 260 mg sodium.

technique 2: grilling fruit

Grilling isn't just for meat and vegetables -- fruit works nicely too. A hot grill caramelizes fruit, bringing out its natural sweetness while softening the flesh. Since the flesh is tender, fruit needs only a few minutes per side. In fact, grilled fruit isn't really cooked, just heated. Firm fruits like apples, pears and pineapple are traditionally grilled, but softer fruits like peaches, plums, nectarines, mangos and papaya also work well. Feel free to substitute any of your favorite fruits in the recipe that follows.

grilling tips

1. Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and bananas can be grilled with their skins on. Leaving the skin (or peel) intact helps fruit maintain its structural integrity as it cooks.