To ask what you bbq on a normal day?

[FurForksSake]

Just that really, weather is good and will be for the next few days. If you bbq what do you cook? I’m not talking about for guests, but just for day to day dinner with the family.

it feels a bit excessive to cook burgers and sausages and chicken and then do salads and bread for four people for a Saturday evening. But lighting the bbq and going to the effort feels like it warrants utilising?

so, middle ground ideas?

A steak with salad and new potatoes.
Chicken in a lemon and garlic marinade with pitta bread and salad
sausages in a roll
veg skewers and bbq corn on the cob and fish

the main point is that I wouldn’t do multiple types of meat or salads. DH always sneaks sausages in though.

Growing up is always multiple meats, I think that’s my issue, I make it a big expensive affair.

I’ll have to reprogramme my DH as be will expect multiple meats!

We often do burgers. And lots of grilled vegetables.

Only steaks. Serve with potato salad and green salad. I can never be bothered to bbq loads of different things.

I have a dual fuel barbecue so if I am using the gas side it's not a big deal to light it. I barbecue: aubergine slices for moussaka because it's less oil than frying them, and there's lots of space for them. Slices of courgette, peppers, aubergines etc., not necessarily all to be eaten at once as they're nice in salads too. Halloumi - again, more space on the barbecue than a pan. Fish so my kitchen won't smell. Lamb chops so my kitchen won't be greasy. Basically, if it's nice weather so you're eating outside, and you don't want to make your kitchen hotter, then anything you would otherwise pan fry or cook under a grill can just go outside instead. Corn on the cob. Asparagus.

ETA: I obvs don't do all of those things at once, it's just I would see the bbq as a normal cooking option if planning to have any of those things.

I think it’s how I think about the bbq, not as an additional piece of cooking equipment but as an event.

im hopeful that we can change that slowly! Particularly with this weather!

We'd bbq whatever we had in the fridge, then eat the leftovers the next day. Saves cooking twice. Chicken thighs, sausages, burgers, corn on the cob, vegetables, potatoes. We are greedy.....

Yes. My mindset is that the bbq is a means to cook a perfect steak. One meal rather than an extravagant event. Makes the whole thing easier, less planning, fewer trips to the supermarket, so I am happy to do it more often.

I find steak hard on the BQ, it turns into shoe leather, can I have some tips please?

Gas bbq for no faff.
Skewers or kebab or wings or klobasa etc.
No faff to do so, it is really as mentioned just extra piece of cooking equipment. I sometimes light it up just for 3 skewers😂
As you say, it will help if you think about is as above. Just another cooking equipment

Standard stuff.....burgers, sausages, some sort of prepared/marinated chicken, maybe some halloumi or corn cobs. Recently, someone gave DH a fancy pan so we now do fish sometimes.

What doesn't get eaten on the day gets warmed up later in the week, or chopped into a salad.

And always ALWAYS barbecued bananas for afters. Stuffed with choc buttons with a little slosh of rum in the foil.

My method would be to get really thick ones. At least an inch, preferably more. Lidl have some reasonable ones. Start from room temp, dry with kitchen paper, apply much more salt than you think is healthy to both sides. BBQ hard so the outside is charred and inside very rare. Rest for at least 5 mins. Slice across the grain into thin, say 5mm strips, squeeze of lime juice.

We do burgers, sausages, salmon, pasta/couscous salad, picky bits like olives, tortilla chips, hummus.

I think I’ve seen Rick Stein on television with a spatchcocked whole chicken seasoned with
lemon, herbs, garlic etc. Looked great.

Honey mustard chicken or garlic and lemon. Split a breast into 3 and marinade over night.

Corn on the cons. Steam then Bbq them until lightly browned.

Burgers. Nice ones. If frozen, cook from frozen.

Veg sticks.

I’ve just looked up a load of traybake recipes and am going to shove those on the bbq!

I like asparagus wrapped in parma ham. It's not much faff and could technically count as a 'meat'.

Current favourite is marinated chicken thighs cooked on skewers, drizzled with hot honey and served in flatbreads with salad.

We roast a whole chicken on the bbq, usually marinaded in peri peri rub with Mediterranean vegetables also done on bbq then get spicy rice or do some oven chips to go with it.

I’ve now planned several evenings of bbq food, I’d like to try the whole chicken, maybe that will be next!