Because it doesn’t require cooking oil, broiling is a great way to cook healthfully. It works particularly well with thin, lean cuts of meat, which cook through before they dry out.

Chicken cutlets, thin cuts of pork, and fish are perfect candidates. Low-fat cuts sometimes lack flavor, so you may want to compensate by using a marinade, a glaze, or a spice paste. Nutrition specialist Wendy Bazilian, R.D., suggests looking beyond traditional American ingredients and exploring other cuisines for low-fat condiments, like hoisin sauce and rice vinegar. A plus: Less than 10 minutes of a broiler’s intense heat creates something that’s too often lacking in low-fat cooking — a crispy crust.

Recipe with Nutritional Information

Hoisin-Glazed Chicken with Cabbage Slaw

Tool Kit

A broiler pan has two parts: a slotted tray and a pan the tray rests on. The slots siphon off any fat that drips off the food. If you don’t have a broiler pan, you can place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. To avoid hours of soaking and scrubbing, line the pan or sheet with foil.

The Finishing Touch

To reinforce the flavor of the marinade or glaze, baste the food frequently during broiling using a pastry brush or a paintbrush (a new one, of course). If you’re serving the liquid with the meal, be sure to set some aside before you baste so you don’t contaminate the cooked food with bacteria from the raw meat.