Take a look at our Summer food ideas – and share your own recipes too!

With all the BBQs and Christmas parties – not to mention Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Eve – many of us may start 2011 a few kilos heavier…so we decided to share a few of our low fat meal ideas.

That way you can you can enjoy the rest of summer eating good food, but not gaining all the weight!

We’d also love to hear your summer food ideas too – share them in the comments section below and we’ll add them to this page.

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Gourmet Chicken Burgers

This one’s not so low fat but it’s tasty – and healthier than most takeaway burgers.

– Burger Buns
– BBQ a chicken breast
– Tomato Relish (on one burger)
– Low fat mayo (on the other burger)
– A thin slice of cheese (a strong cheese works best…has more bite to it and you don’t need as much) (melted onto the burger)
– Tomato
– Red Onion
– 3 big basil leaves
– a sprinkle of cracked pepper
– One slice of bacon (remove the fat)
– Iceberg lettuce
– Mesclun

Push together and eat! 

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Chicken Salad

This one is really quick to make.

– Precooked smoked chicken (cut into small pieces)
– A bag of lettuce (try mixing your lettuces up – don’t just use iceberg!)
– Tomato (cut up how you like it)
– Low fat dressing of your choice – mix it all in, in one big bowl and serve.

You can add a lot more to it too – but for a quick meal the above takes about 2 minutes to make! 

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BBQ Snapper and Corn on the Cob

– Fresh snapper
– Insert a little garlic
– Put some low fat butter or marg on it
– Squeeze lemon juice over it
– Add a bit of cracked pepper
– Some basil leaves
– Cover it all in foil and cook for a short time on the BBQ (overcook it and it goes very dry – under cooking is better).

Add some Corn on the Cob for something sweet and a bag of salad for the green and you’re done!

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Fresh Fish platter

This is a great lazy one.

– Raw salmon slices
– Some prawns
– Some mussels
– Smoke salmon (precooked)
– In fact – any other fish you like!

BBQ some, have others raw or precooked.  Serve with salad and plenty of lemon juice for that zing!  A nice meal to pick away at while enjoying a glass of NZ white wine.

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– WeatherWatch.co.nz