Healthy Father's Day Recipes

We love the flavor of grilled onions with the steak in this healthy 5-ingredient recipe (not including oil, salt and pepper) but skewer up any veggies in your fridge--zucchini, cherry tomatoes and eggplant are all good choices. Just adjust the cooking time as necessary. Serve with a baked potato or brown rice pilaf flecked with herbs.

In this whole grilled chicken recipe, the backbone is removed and the chicken is flattened then grilled under the weight of 2 bricks--which enables it to cook quickly and evenly. The homemade rub recipe makes enough to prepare 2 pounds of boneless chicken or 4 pounds of bone-in chicken, but you can easily double or triple the recipe and store the extra in an airtight container for up to 3 months so you can have it on hand throughout the grilling season.

A combination of baked, mashed and roasted, these crusty, garlicky smashed potatoes are a healthy and creative alternative. Serve alongside a seared steak or roasted pork tenderloin and green beans.

Want to know how to grill corn on the cob? This grilled corn on the cob recipe starts with 4 ears of fresh summer corn.

The batter for this healthy one-bowl brownie recipe is stirred together right in the saucepan used to melt the butter and chocolate--no mixing bowl needed and less cleanup for you. Using shredded zucchini in this healthy dessert recipe creates a tender, moist brownie with about half the amount of butter and sugar found in a classic recipe--and it's virtually undetectable in the baked brownies.

Use the hasselback technique to upgrade plain caprese salad with this fun twist! Cutting partially into the whole tomato creates openings to layer in fresh mozzarella cheese, basil and a balsamic drizzle for tons of flavor in this unique vegetable side dish recipe.

When the fruit is ripe and you need a little kick in your glass, it's time for this spicy watermelon margarita recipe. Dip the glass rims in chili powder–spiked coarse salt for an extra layer of spice.

Tossing potatoes with a little good vinegar while they are still warm infuses them with flavor. Capers, gherkins and a touch of anchovy give this old-fashioned salad a piquant finish, while red bell pepper and celery give it an appealing crunch.

This refreshing fruit salad is a classic combination that will be the favorite at any potluck or cookout. Serve with a creamy yogurt dressing to take this side (or dessert) to the next level.

These rolls are wonderfully fluffy and packed with cinnamon flavor--you'd never know they're gluten-free. Plus, with only one rise time, this recipe is quicker to make than other yeasted doughs.

Sour cream gives this healthy baked custard recipe richness and tang. It's delicious with in-season strawberries, but feel free to substitute whatever berries you can get your hands on.

Little Gem lettuce is like a cross between romaine and butterhead. It's perfect for making an updated take on the wedge salad in this healthy recipe. If you can't find Little Gem, use half a romaine heart for each serving. You can order Point Reyes Original blue cheese online from pointreyescheese.com or substitute another raw-milk blue cheese.

Dried herbs and crushed garlic dress up your favorite olives.

Studded with strawberries, this breakfast recipe is a cross between a baked French toast and a dessert bread pudding. Swap in almost any fruit depending on what's in season. Although we typically advocate using whole-grain bread, we stuck with challah for this recipe, because the results are so luscious.

It may seem a little intimidating to open an oyster, but after a little practice it gets easier. Classically oysters are served raw on the half shell with a little mignonette sauce, which refers in French to “black pepper,” but you can also enjoy them without any sauce at all.

It may seems a little intimidating to open an oyster, but after a little practice it gets easier. In this recipe, the oysters are served with a spiced-up, California-style version of mignonette sauce inspired by the folks at Hog Island Oyster Company on Tomales Bay in Northern California.

Fresh wedges of tomato, thinly sliced onion and sliced cucumber dressed simply with vinegar and oil makes the most simple salad possible--think of it as the Southern counterpart to the classic Italian tomato-and-mozzarella salad. It is best enjoyed at the height of summer, when tomatoes and cucumbers are fresh from the garden.

Whole-wheat flour and flaxseeds give these maple syrup-sweetened blueberry muffins a delicious, nutty flavor. Compared to a traditional version of the recipe, they have four times the dietary fiber and substitute healthful monounsaturated fat (canola oil) for saturated fat (butter).

Carrots give carrot cake a health-halo effect--people think it's health food, but it's usually very high in fat and calories. But our version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most. First, we use less oil in our batter. Then we skip the butter in the frosting (don't worry, it's still light and smooth). To ensure the cake is moist, we add nonfat buttermilk and crushed pineapple.

This lightly dressed pasta salad gets lots of flavor from Kalamata olives and basil. A colorful mix of diced bell pepper, shredded carrot and tomatoes adds vitamins and minerals. Serve on a crisp bed of greens. Toss in canned chunk light tuna, cooked chicken or flavored baked tofu to add protein and make it more substantial.

Great news--crunchy, flavorful fried chicken can be healthy with this oven-fried chicken recipe. We marinate skinless chicken in buttermilk to keep it juicy. A light coating of flour, sesame seeds and spices, misted with olive oil, forms an appealing crust during baking. And with only 7 grams of fat per serving in this oven-fried chicken recipe--rather than the 20 in typical fried chicken--that is good news.

A dressing of nonfat yogurt enriched with a little reduced-fat mayonnaise and Dijon mustard replaces the heavier dressings in more traditional potato salad recipes.

This updated picnic potato salad gets subtle flavor from smoked ham. If you can find them, small, thin-skinned early potatoes are best in this salad.

Channel your inner food stylist while arranging the beans and vegetables for this show-stopping composed bean salad recipe. Serve at a potluck or for a beautiful salad at brunch alongside grilled chicken, scallops or fish.

This banana quick bread is full of chocolate chips and toasted heart-healthy walnuts so you get a taste of nuts and chocolate in each bite. This version reduces the fat substantially and uses nonfat buttermilk to make the results extremely moist and tender.

This Japanese-inspired cool, crisp salad is as elegant and well balanced as it is simple.

This makeover of a Midwestern classic tops layers of lettuce, peas, bell pepper and tomatoes with a creamy, tangy dressing. The salad stays fresh underneath until it's served and gets even better when held overnight.

Deviled eggs are a perennial potluck favorite. Our recipe replaces some of the egg yolks with nonfat cottage cheese--keeping the filling velvety and rich while reducing some of the fat. No one will know the difference.