I jumped at the chance to join Recipe Redux when I heard the words “cooking” and “challenge” used in the same sentence. Because that honestly describes my skill set. I have been a proud “assembler” of meals for most of my adult life. While that has done me just fine, I believe The Recipe ReDux has a mission right in line with #mefirst.
The Recipe ReDux is focused on taking delicious dishes, keeping them delicious, but making them better for you. Healthier eating should always taste delicious. As the Latin term “redux” means to revisit or reinvent, we are reinventing the idea of healthy eating with a taste-first approach.
Amen. Taste-first is #MEFIRST As a former “diet food junkie,” I spent years noshing on tasteless, cardboard like cookies and dining on flavorless frozen (but fat free and only a few “points” !!!) meals. Even though those diet-food days are years behind me, I think many people still struggle with feeling guilty when they eat delicious food… and of course there is a huge stigma that delicious food is rarely healthy and in fact, women are powerless over food (how many of you thought of the Yoplait commercial that National Eating Disorder Association lobbied successfully to get pulled from the airwaves)?
You wont see any diet food in my Recipe ReDux blogs. You certainly won’t find calorie counts. I will focus on simple and quick ways of using whole foods to put together balanced meals. I’m going to use the approach of “adding in nutrition” vs. taking away anything else.
July Recipe ReDux Challenge: Grilling!
I tackled: The Plantain
Watch my video summary of the entire process!
Inspired by my recent trip to Grand Cayman, I decided to try grilling plantains. It’s actually very simple, easy, and delicious.
All you do is peel and slice the plantain, like so… 
Then, slice them up, brush with light tasting olive oil, dash with cinnamon and nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it). 
Finally grill for a few minutes on each size. They will get a little soft and have wonderful grill marks like so… 
Since people eat first with their eyes, be sure to put them on a pretty plate and serve to your friends and family! I’d love these as a sweet side dish or even dessert! Perfect for outdoor parties. They taste great cold too! Simple. Delicious. You’ll look like a culinary star. But you don’t have to be! Notice how you feel when you prepare something healthy and delicious for people you care about. That’s #MeFirst Let me know if you have had plantains, if you love them, and how you love to eat them.
Check out other blog posts from “The Recipe ReDuxers”
Alexandra Caspero
Grilled Summer Fruit Salad
Alysa Bajenaru – Inspired RD
Grilled Romaine Salad
Ann Dunaway Teh – Eat to Nourish, Energize & Flourish!
Grilled Flank Steak with Grilled Corn and Peach Salsa
Cindy Brison - Nutrition Know How
Danielle Omar – Food Confidence
Grilled Sweet Peppers
Diane Welland – EatWellEatClean
Grilled Beet & Onion Salad with Goat Cheese
Dr Barb - The Nutrition Budgeteer
EA Stewart – The Spicy RD
Grilled Polenta Veggie Stacks with Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes
Emma Stirling – The Scoop on Nutrition
Char Siu BBQ Pork
Gretchen – Kumquat
Grilled Tandoori Chicken Skewers
Jackie Mills- Delicious Diabetes Cooking
Grilled Proscuitto Shrimp with Asian Dipping Sauce
Jessica Fishman Levinson – Nutritioulicious
Grilled Salmon Burgers with Cherry Chutney
Kat Lynch – Eating The Week
Portobello mushrooms stuffed with spiced couscous
Katie Caputo- East Meats West
Succulent Sirloin Kabobs
Kristen – Swanky Dietitian
Portabella Mushroom Burgers with Grilled Corn
Lisa – Healthful Sense
Grilled Veggie Bean Burgers
Liz Weiss and Janice Newell Bissex - Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen
Nicole Ferring Holovach – Whole Health RD
Grilled Eggs
Rebecca Scritchfield – MeFirst
Grilled Plantains: A Sweet Summer Side Dish
Regan – The Professional Palate
Grilled Eggplant & Two-Tomato Whole-Wheat Piadina
Serena – Teaspoon of Spice
Grilled Watermelon Salad
I live in the Dominican Republic, there’s always green and sweet plantains at my house. I use it on [tropical] sushi rolls, they are great boiled and mashed with a little salt and dominicans like to cook them in a pan with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar.
These look delicious! I love the idea of grilling fruit.
Yum!
Have never grilled plantains before, but have always heard how sweet they turn when grilled. What a great fruit dessert idea!
And love the video post for The ReDux! Thanks for participating.
Yum yum yum! I love plantains and would definitely use freshly grated nutmeg (my favorite). Thanks for the idea, and I am so glad you are part of the ReDux crew!!
Grilled plantains would be a first for me and it’s now on my grilling list. Cool thought to do a video “recipe” post – thanks for being a part of Recipe ReDux!