Grilled shrimp with honey-ginger barbecue sauce
The scoop: Shrimp are low in calories and high in protein, not to mention inexpensive if you buy them frozen.
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup mild honey
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons hot sauce, such as Tabasco
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced peeled ginger
1 teaspoon salt
Shrimp:
4 pounds jumbo or extra-large shrimp in shell, peeled, leaving tail and adjoining shell segment intact, and deveined
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
18 to 24 (12-inch) wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions:
Stir together all sauce ingredients in a two to 2 1/2-quart heavy saucepan and briskly simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, 25 to 30 minutes. (Stir frequently toward end of cooking to prevent sticking.)

If necessary, pat shrimp dry, then thread about six shrimp (through top and tail, leaving shrimp curled), onto each skewer, without leaving space between shrimp. Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium-high for gas).

Meanwhile, brush shrimp with vegetable oil and sprinkle evenly with salt. Lightly oil grill rack. Grill shrimp, covered only if using a gas grill, turning over once, for two minutes. Brush shrimp with some sauce from the saucepan, then turn. Brush shrimp with additional sauce then grill until just cooked through, one to two minutes. Serve with reserved sauce.

(Source: Epicurious)

Grilled vegetarian tostada
The scoop: The tostada is one of the most notoriously calorific entrees in the Mexican food oeuvre. By grilling shells instead of frying them, and cutting out the meat and sour cream, you get a guilt-free, flavorful vehicle for veggies. (If you just can't live without sour cream, the fat-free kind is super low-cal. You can also use a dollop of fat-free Greek yogurt.)
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grill
3 medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds total), cut into 1/2-inch-wide slices
4 Portobello mushrooms (1 pound total), stemmed
1 1/2 bunches scallions, root ends trimmed
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 flour tortillas (10-inch or burrito-size)
3 cups store-bought or fresh salsa
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 lime, cut lengthwise into 4 wedges (optional), for serving

Directions:
Heat grill to high; lightly oil grates. In separate piles, arrange zucchini, mushrooms and scallions on a baking sheet. Drizzle with two tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper.

Working in batches if necessary, remove each pile of vegetables from baking sheet. Grill, turning once, until lightly browned and tender, two minutes for scallions, six minutes for mushrooms and eight minutes for zucchini. Return all vegetables to baking sheet. Slice mushrooms into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Set aside.

Brush tortillas with remaining tablespoon oil; grill, turning frequently, until browned and very crispy, about two minutes. Place one tortilla on each serving plate; cover evenly with mushrooms and zucchini. Using kitchen shears, snip scallions over vegetables. Top with salsa, and sprinkle with feta; serve with lime wedges if desired.

(Source: Martha Stewart)

Flank steak skewers with cherry barbecue sauce
The scoop: If you've gotta have beef at your barbecue, flank steak is the leanest cut. Avoid tough, chewy texture by cutting the meat against the grain.
Makes 16 skewers

Ingredients:
Sauce:
2 teaspoons ghee or fat of choice
1/2 cup minced shallot
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (1-inch) ginger root, peeled and finely grated
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup coconut aminos (or wheat-free tamari)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup apple juice
10 ounces frozen cherries, roughly chopped
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Skewers:
1 1/2-pound flank steak
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons melted ghee
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions:
To make the sauce, melt the ghee over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt and sauté until translucent (around five minutes). Stir in the garlic, ginger and tomato paste and sauté for 30 second until fragrant. Add the coconut aminos, vinegar, juice and cherries and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the cherry mixture is thickened. While the sauce is simmering, stir occasionally and smash the cherries against the side of the pot. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the sauce to a bowl or measuring cup and set aside.

Thirty minutes before you grill your skewers, soak 16 bamboo skewers in water. Grab your slab of flank steak and cut it into 16 pieces. Carefully stab each slice of meat through the center with a soaked skewer.

Grab a hefty meat pounder or small cast iron skillet and smash each steak skewer until it's about a half-inch thick. Season the beef with salt and pepper and brush both sides with melted ghee.

Grill over high heat for one to two minutes on each side. Let the meat skewers rest for five to 10 minutes before brushing on the cherry barbecue sauce. A garnish of fresh green scallions is optional.

(Source: Nom Nom Paleo)

Grilled fruit salad with creamy goat cheese topping
The scoop: Grilling fruit caramelizes the natural sugars and takes a standard salad to the next level. Bonus: Each serving of this fruit salad packs 11 grams of protein. (And if you just can't deal with adding protein powder to dessert, Greek yogurt and goat cheese help retain some of the protein content.)
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 peaches, cut in half, pit removed
3 plums, cut in half, pit removed
2 Bosc pears, cut in half, core and stem removed
2 fresh figs, cut in half
1 pink grapefruit, cut in half
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
1 ounce unripened goat cheese
2 tablespoons fat free plain Greek yogurt
1 scoop vanilla-flavored whey protein powder (optional)

Directions:
Preheat your outdoor grill to very high heat and oil grates. While grill is heating, prep all your fruits. Set them face up on a cutting board and sprinkle with a tiny bit of freshly cracked black pepper.

When grill is hot enough, place your fruits face down on the grill and cook until they get nice grill marks on them, about three to five minutes.

Remove from grill and set on your cutting board. Cut peaches, plums and pears into bite-size pieces and transfer to medium-size mixing bowl.

Using a teaspoon, remove the flesh from the grapefruit and add to the rest of the fruits. Squeeze as much of the juice as you can over the fruits. Toss in basil and mint leaves and mix until well combined. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, add goat cheese, Greek yogurt and protein powder. Mix with a spoon until well incorporated. Let the mixture rest for about a minute and give it another quick stir to make it smooth.

When ready to serve, divide fruit salad between four bowls and top with goat cheese mixture. Garnish with fig halves, slices of pears and mint leaves, if desired.

(Source: The Healthy Foodie)

Frozen mango-kiwi-raspberry pops
The scoop: Each of these fresh-fruit popsicles has four grams of fiber and just 90 calories, making this a low-cal, low-investment dessert.
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
9 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
5 ounces kiwi, peeled
6 ounces mango, peeled
6 ounces fresh raspberries

Directions:
Make a simple syrup by combining water and sugar in a small pot and bringing to a boil for about four to five minutes on medium heat. Set aside.

Puree kiwis, mangos and raspberries one fruit at a time in a blender. Set aside in three small bowls. Divide the simple syrup among the fruit purees and mix in.

Equally fill four five-ounce cups with the kiwi puree and place in the freezer; freeze one hour.

Add mango puree and freeze 20 minutes. Insert sticks and freeze at least two hours. Finish by filling the cups with the raspberry puree and freeze overnight.

(Source: Skinny Taste)