Whatever the weather, August Bank Holiday wouldn’t be complete without a good old British barbecue. But with the amount of food and drink usually on offer, it’s easy to overindulge. Here are some low-fat ideas to help you stay on track without compromising flavour or fun!

New potato salad

Swap a baked potato with butter for a tasty potato salad. Combine a finely chopped small onion, 4 chopped spring onions, 3 ½ tbs reduced fat mayonnaise, 1 ½ tbs reduced fat sour cream, 2 ½ tbs mustard and 2 ½ tbs white wine vinegar; and mix well. Add 1 lb of boiled new potatoes (skins on) and stir until coated. Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Baked potato and butter: 238 calories
Potato salad: 140 calories per serving

Pork and fig kebabs

Swap your usual sausages for one of these mouth-watering kebabs. Alternate three pieces of lean pork and three figs on a skewer, and drizzle with a drop of honey. Season with salt and pepper and grill on the barbeque, until cooked through.

Two pork sausages: 232 calories
Pork kebab: 148 calories

Mushroom kebabs

Swap a fatty lamb kebab or cutlet for one of these superfood kebabs. Mix 150g of Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp of chopped fresh mint, a finely chopped clove of garlic, 1 tbsp paprika and 1 tbsp of lemon juice and add 450g of closed cup mushrooms. Leave for four hours and then place onto skewers.

Lamb cutlet: 212 calories
Mushroom kebab: 30 calories

Baked crisps with salsa

Swap high calorie nachos and cheese for some baked crisps with salsa. You could even try placing the crisps in the oven to warm them through, and then serve with some delicious chilled salsa.

Nachos with cheese: 570 calories
Baked crisps with salsa: 160 calories

Strawberries with balsamic vinegar

Swap those calorific bananas and chocolate for strawberries with balsamic vinegar. Mix 200g of strawberries with 2 tsp of soft brown sugar and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, and wrap in tin foil. Cook on the barbie for three minutes then sprinkle with chopped mint.

Banana with chocolate: 312 calories
Strawberries with balsamic vinegar: 93 calories per cupful

Roasted Garlic

Swap butter-filled garlic bread for some fresh bread with roasted garlic cloves. Pop the cloves on the barbeque until they’re soft, then squeeze them and spread on the bread.

Garlic butter: 36 calories per tsp
Roasted garlic: 5 calories per tsp

Soy ginger chicken

Swap your shop-bought Chinese chicken for this home-made recipe. Mix together 2 crushed cloves of garlic, an inch of grated ginger, a sliced red chilli and 2 tbs each of dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and red wine vinegar. Use to marinate chicken pieces for the barbie.

Barbecued chicken wing: 160 calories
Soy ginger chicken wing: 110 calories

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