Our Best Ideas To Elevate a BBQ Meal

A delicious meal prepared on the barbecue is often all it takes to please dad on Father’s Day. Alongside succulent grilled meats, make space for the best side dishes. Sauces, grilled vegetables, salads: The choice is yours!

Sauces for all Tastes

Sauces are unrivalled when it comes to topping up grilled meats, starting with BBQ sauce, which is always a hit when served with chicken or ribs. For red meats, think of traditional pepper sauce or a mushroom sauce, which will delight those who love mushrooms. Fruity sauces, such as those made with pineapple, mango, or figs, are perfect to pair with pork chops or another cut of pork.

Add a pop of colour and a spicy flavour to the plate by opting for a chimichurri sauce. This recipe of South American origin is based on herbs and chili peppers and has several variations, including this one, combining parsley and mint. Some versions also include fresh coriander, oregano or thyme.

Tasty Grilled Vegetables:

If you’re going to light the barbecue, you might as well use it to grill vegetables, especially since this cooking method makes them even tastier, and brings out the natural sugars they contain. To prepare for them, use practical tools or techniques:

The Wok or Barbecue Basket: Of course, you can place the vegetables directly on the grill to score and caramelize them, but a wok or barbecue basket is more practical for longer, slivered vegetables such as asparagus and beans that tend to fall between the grates. Thanks to the perforated surfaces of these cookware items, the heat is evenly distributed and the vegetables cannot fall through.

The Cast Iron Skillet: Because it conducts heat well, a cast iron skillet is also a good choice for cooking vegetables (and also meats) on the barbecue. A good point in favour of this method is that it does not dirty the grill. The result is well-caramelized vegetables that will be all the rage as an accompaniment to grilled meats.

Papillote: Vegetables in foil steam in a gentler way, which helps maximize flavours. For the barbecue, use one or two layers of aluminum foil and add oil or butter to prevent the vegetables from sticking. Make sure the packet is tightly closed to trap steam and moisture inside.

The Inevitable Salads

In summer, the grilled meat and salad combo brings sunshine and good times to the table. In some salad recipes, the heat of the barbecue is also used to grill the ingredients, such as slices of bread, prosciutto and even the romaine lettuce in this revisited Caesar salad.

In this recipe for endive and halloumi salad, indirect cooking (the off section of the barbecue) is used for grilling the vegetables, and direct cooking for the cheese.

To put seasonal vegetables in the spotlight and make Father’s Day a success, these recipes are also recommended:

• A colourful Greek salad;
• seasonal summer salads;
• fresh cucumber salad;
• zucchini salad.