Your Grill Guide for Healthy Summer Eating

More: 4 Fruits You Should Snack On

How to:

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.

2. To cook on direct heat: Halve and core apples and pears; halve and pit peaches, nectarines, mangos and plums; halve and seed papayas lengthwise; halve bananas lengthwise; and cut oranges, tangerines and grapefruit into 1-inch slices.

3. Brush the cut side of all fruits with olive or vegetable oil (the fresh flavor of olive oil pairs beautifully with fruit) or spray with nonstick cooking spray and place directly on hot grill.

4. Grill fruit for two to three minutes per side, until tender and golden brown.

Go Fish

Seafood kebobs with beets and potatoes make for one easy summer meal. Soak bamboo skewers in water for 10 minutes (so they don't burn on the grill). Meanwhile, drain and blot canned beets and canned new potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss beets, potatoes and scallops or shrimp with extra-virgin olive oil and minced garlic. Thread onto skewers alternating scallops or shrimp, beets and potatoes until the skewers are full. Grill for 10 minutes, turning twice. Top with chopped, toasted walnuts, parsley, and feta cheese.

More: Recipe: Light Cobb Salad

Clams and mussels are excellent on the grill, too. To clean clams and mussels, first scrub them with a stiff brush under cold running water, discarding any shellfish with broken shells. Using sharp scissors, remove the "beard" from mussels (the hairy stuff protruding from one end).

Put clams and mussels in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon each cornmeal and salt and let stand one hour (cornmeal pulls excess sand from inside shells). Drain the shellfish, rinse and drain again.

Place the shellfish directly on the hottest part of the grill and cook until shells open, approximately five to seven minutes (time varies depending on shellfish size).

Great Grilling Tips

1. Before preheating, brush grates with olive oil or coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Watch cooking time when using an indoor grill. The Foreman grill works like a waffle iron (food gets cooked from both sides at once), so cut cook times in half.

3. Let food cook for several minutes before flipping. Flip too soon or too often and your food will stick.

4. Spatulas are not for squishing. Pressing food while it cooks forces precious juices out and into the grill.

5. Let meat, fish and poultry rest five to 10 minutes after cooking, before slicing. This allows juices to resettle in the meat.

6. A clean grill = great taste. Residue on the grill grates—such as burnt pieces of food and blackened sauces—causes flare-ups, and flare-ups char food. After cooking, brush grates with a metal grill brush to remove debris.

7. Refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible. Toss any food that's been left out for more than two hours (or one hour if it's left in the car or if the temperature outside is hotter than 90 degree Fahrenheit).

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