Marinades make grilling easy
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EmailUse marinades to keep fish, meat and poultry moist when grilling or broiling.
Broiling or grilling meat, fish or poultry? Sometimes these items can dry out when you broil or grill them. Marinades are one way to keep your foods moist, tender and add additional flavors to them. They are easy to make and can be very cost effective by allowing less expensive cuts of meat to be grilled or broiled.
Always keep food safety in mind when you are using marinades. Foods should always be marinated in the refrigerator, not on the counter. It usually takes several hours or even overnight for the marinade to produce the best result. If some of the marinade will be used to baste the meat while cooking or as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion of the marinade before putting raw meat, fish or poultry into the marinade. If the marinade used on the raw meat, fish or poultry is to be reused, make sure to bring it to a boil on the stove to destroy any harmful bacteria before using it on the cooked foods.
You can easily make your own marinade with or without a recipe. They can be made with wine, vinegar, juice such as orange or lemon juice or soy sauce. Add seasoning such as garlic, pepper, green onion, mustard or fresh herbs. Do a little experimenting and create your own marinade. If you would rather not make your own marinade, you can use oil and vinegar based salad dressings such as Italian dressing as a marinade.
Michigan State University Extension recommends the SNAP ED Connection, for easy, low-cost recipes, including recipes with marinades. The following recipe is from the SNAP ED connection.
¼ cup onion chopped
2 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon basil, dried
Mix onion, parsley, vinegar, mustard, garlic powder and basil. Place meat in plastic bag and pour in marinade. Close the bag securely, place in a bowl and marinate in refrigerator for six to eight hours or overnight, turning at least once. Pour off marinade and discard. Broil or grill meat until desired doneness.
