I find barbecue sides uninspiring. Any tips for a good veg dish that isn’t potato salad?
Dan, London E13
First to get up in your grill, Dan, is live-fire cook Genevieve Taylor. But before we go any further, we must address your potato salad takedown. “Grilling potatoes on the barbecue is a really lovely thing to do,” counters Taylor, who wrote Charred: The Complete Guide to Vegetarian Grilling and Barbecue. She cuts new potatoes into wedges, grills them slowly until crisp on the outside, then adds “an Italian-style olive-oil-based dressing and basil” while they are still warm.
“Pretty much every veg you can think of is boosted with a little bit of smoke and fire,” says Taylor. The beauty of cooking this way, she says, is that you can layer textures, flavours and colours in a way that you can’t with meat: “I might start with a base of root veg, such as carrots, which always benefit from a little blanch first to open up the cell walls so you can then hit them with a marinade, such as cumin, garlic and chipotle chilli. Then grill them until charred in places and nice and sticky.” Taylor layers them with herbs, spring onions, nuts and ricotta.
Whole cauliflowers have become a barbecue’s best friend, but only when blanched first, then cooked slowly. “A lot of vegetables take longer to cook on the barbecue than you might imagine,” says Taylor. “My top tip is to set up your barbecue so that you have different zones of heat – only put charcoal on one side of the barbecue, so that you have the option to cook indirectly or directly over the fire.”
Taylor cooks the cauliflower over an indirect heat until tender, then slides it over the fire to caramelise. Then, says Georgina Hayden, the author of Taverna, it is all about the finishing touches. She tosses her cauliflower in a mix of tahini, yoghurt, garlic, lemon and olive oil, then adds herbs and/or chilli. This works well with broccoli, too.
Vinegar is a useful tool to contrast that charcoal flavour, says Neil Campbell, the head chef at Rovi in London: “Try slicing white onions, mixing with apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt, then leaving to sit. Lightly grill some asparagus and green beans, then chop and toss them in the vinaigrette and throw in some basil.” Onion also makes a cracking side to meat: “Cut red onions in half (skin on), then cook face down until they are pretty much black, then slip them off the direct heat and cook skin side down so they sweat and steam.” Once they are done, Campbell removes the skin, slices the onions and adds Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
On the allure of browned veg, Taylor says: “The Maillard reaction [the chemical process that occurs when proteins and sugars in your food are transformed by heat] is not exclusive to meat. Root veg, such as sweet potatoes or carrots, and peppers are all capable of the Maillard reaction, given the right temperature.” Hayden suggests whizzing chargrilled peppers into a dip to serve with balsamic vinegar, basil and mozzarella, while Campbell proffers peppers slowly roasted with sherry vinegar, olive oil and oregano.
To spice things up, look for inspiration from cultures where fire cooking is prevalent, says Taylor: “Indian tandoor cooking, Mexico or south-east Asia, for all those wonderful marinades with lemongrass, lime leaves and coriander.” And if you have some citrus fruits knocking around, toss them on to the grill, too, then squeeze over veg before serving.
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