Veggie BBQ series: BBQ tips + more favourite recipes

After Christmas/Holiday meals summer BBQ’s seem to be the second place where people are trying their hand at ‘cooking for a vegetarian’. I won’t get started on what sits behind that – that’s for another time.

If you don’t have a BBQ or the inclination to light one all of these recipes can be cooked indoors in a plain old frying pan or griddle pan.

Favourites this year have been wedges of summer cabbage, thin slices of skin-on sweet potato, endives halved then dressed in a sweet vinaigrette … all grilled so that char marks tattoo themselves on to their exteriors, while their insides are soft and melty.

CHARRED CARROT AND FENNEL SALAD WITH SPICED MAPLE

This is the kind of salad around which to build a meal: yoghurt, greens, charred carrots and fennel generously spiced and with a little sweet and sour. I used baby carrots here, but big ones work just as well.

CORN ON THE COB WITH MUSTARD SEED BUTTER AND CHUTNEY

TOO HOT TO EAT SALAD

The key here is to get everything nice and cold. Search out raw red-skinned peanuts if you can. In the summer I soak a few handfuls in cold water overnight and keep them cool in the fridge for snacking. They are also great in stir-fries and on top of morning fruit. They are fresh and juicy and completely different to a roasted peanut. You can easily find them in health food stores or Indian supermarkets.

Roast carrot burger with avocado salsa

This has become a favourite veggie burger. I make this using vegetarian parmesan, but you could use a vegan cheese instead. Once cool, the uncooked burgers can be wrapped and frozen for up to four months.