A Healthy Labor Day Dinner

Today, of all days, I didn't feel like eating a traditional Labor Day meal. I said no to hamburgers and hot dogs, no to potato salad, no to carne asada, no to grilled chicken, and a big fat no to anything laden with overly sweet barbecue sauce. No to soda, no to salty chips, no beer, and no to manufactured processed boxed foods; basically no to anything artificial fat filled and artery clogging. To be honest with you, it's not that satisfying.

For years my husband and I would go to friends homes or my families places and eat all of the above. Of course my family will add extras like hot links, refried beans, Spanish rice, at least three different kinds of salsa and guacamole, grilled green onions and corn, and plenty of corn tortillas to go around, which isn't bad at all-in fact I really love my family's take on it-but it does becoming a little boring and passe. Especially when it's a lot of the same food for most family gatherings. So this year my husband and I decided to do Labor Day the way we like to eat, fresh and healthy.

Our meal began with sliced organic orange tomatoes with a slice of mozzarella cheese with a hint of salt and balsamic vinegar. The tomatoes are so sweet that I ate an entire tomato by itself! This is a great dinner in itself with a great piece of toasted or grilled bread topped with basil or an organic baby green salad.

Yummy grilled zucchini and yellow squash marinated in olive oil and salt. I can never get enough of this summer squash. Also great in a sandwich. Grilled eggplant is a great substitute too paired with marinated grilled red bell peppers.

The always delicious salmon powdered with lemon pepper and olive oil. Add a little lemon and I'm in salmon heaven.

I cannot deny my Mexican roots and not eat grilled corn whenever the grill is out during the summer. I bought white corn on the cob and husked it all.

I don't grill corn with the husk on. I like my corn grilled, I think you can taste the sweetness more this way than boiling it or steaming it in it's husks. This way you don't need to add any butter. Mmm, I can still smell the sweet corm on my table.

We did eat our meal with white rice, not the best carbs out there but it's what we have on hand and my husbands favorite. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the fact that I forgot to snap a picture of freshly steamed rice. I'll take one the next time if you really interested, though.

All in all with our portions weighed out and using FitDay.com to calculate our caloric intake, this meal was under 700 calories. Not a lot and not a heavy meal for a really tasty and nutritious meal.

I hope your Labor Day was great tasting too! Now get back to work, or school. :-)