BBQ rut - ideas?

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We’ve had great weather where we live for a while and I feel like I’ve eaten BBQ food for weeks but I’m stuck in a rut now of sausages / burgers / steak - baked potatoes - salad.

Looking for something more interesting - what do you cook when you BBQ?

We cook everything on the grill, so could you just do you normal food? Last night I did shrimp and hasselback kielbasa. Sometimes we do fish for tacos with roasted peppers and onions. Tomorrow we are doing tandoori paneer and jackfruit. Absolutely anything can be put on the barbecue.

Field mushrooms, peppers, broccoli with garlic butter
Potato slices tossed in mayonnaise and mustard
Long slabs of courgette, once bbqed put on a platter, drizzle with olive oil, salt and lemon and fresh mint and a ball of burrata broken over the top
Whole aubergine, split and drizzled with tahini sauce
Whole cauliflower with tahini sauce
Corn on the cob, then once a bit charred sprinkle with feta cheese crumbles, lime juice and some chili flakes to taste
Boneless chicken thighs marinaded in cachaça (the alcohol in mojitos), garlic, lime and oregano
Butterflied lamb shoulder marinaded in pomegranate molasses

A favourite with my family are haloumi, red pepper and chorizo kebabs. Big chunks of creamy cheese next to thinly sliced chorizo, I add the red pepper so I can pretend they are healthy because there's some veg there they also cook in minutes.

Fish.

For me, the best bit of a bbq is all the other stuff. The salads, the extras for the burgers, so everyone builds their own and has something slightly different.

Tabbouleh, pasta salads, Greek salads, fattoush, pea salads. Plus a burger. Yum.

Chicken wings
Ribs
Kebabs

Butterflied leg of lamb, tzaziki, salad and flatbreads

Spatchcock chicken. We had this lots when we lived in Oz. You can either buy a whole chicken and spatchcock it yourself and marinade it with whatever you fancy or you can buy them already made up with a marinade in any supermarket.
Belly pork marinated in bbq sauce.
Lamb with a rosemary or mint rub.
Curried chicken breast pieces on skewers.
Chicken satay.
Sweet peppers on the bbq, come out lovely and juicy.
As above halloumi is great on the bbq.
Serve with potato salad and or homemade coleslaw.

Portabello mushrooms stuffed with Boursin
Skewers of Chorizo, Halloumi, peppers, oinion and chicken with a honey mustard glaze
Corn on the cob (wrapped in tin foil)

We’ve recently discovered barbecued lamb and it’s so good!

This one is Greek style www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2220672/barbecued-greek-lamb-with-tzatziki Serves 6. We serve it with the tzatziki, humous, and warm pitta breads. I’d do these bbq falafel www.femalefirst.co.uk/foodanddrink/summer-recipes-bbq-falafel-299838.html and this Greek butter bean salad www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/06/greek-butter-bean-salad-tomatoes-dill-recipe.html

Ive also done it Indian! www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/531671/indian-spiced-barbecued-lamb Serve with pickled red onion, mango chutney, raita, warm chipatis and this recipe for Indian summer greens www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-summer-greens-recipe you could also serve paneer skewers www.bbc.com/food/recipes/paneerandvegetablesk_86440 and this chickpea salad www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/punjabi-style-chickpea-salad

Oh these are great, thanks everyone. I’ve written them all down.

Its funny but I never thought about cooking ‘regular’ food, I always think of ‘BBQ’ food (hence the limited menu ).

Chicken tikka.
Chicken breast cut into 1.5" chunks.
In a bowl - 2 Tbs yoghurt (Greek), juice of half a lemon, salt and black pepper. 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 Tsp chilli powder, 1Tsp Madras curry powder. Marinate the chicken overnight in this mixture. Cook on skewers on a medium hot part of the BBQ for around 16 minutes, turning regularly. The chicken should be blackened slightly and cooked through.

@wagtailred ... I do this! Love it

This rice is amazing too thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/yotam-ottolenghis-baked-mint-rice-with-olive-and-pomegranate-salsa

Spatchcock tandoori chicken
Chargrilled aubergines with mint and pomegranate

I love a barbecue but not hugely fond of the standard sausage, burger, chicken skewer fare. If you really want to increase your barbecue repertoire I can recommend Mark Bittman’s ‘How to Grill Everything’ book for inspiration.

Tonight we had seafood on the bbq. I used this recipe:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/one-pan-seafood-roast-smoky-garlic-butter

Also done a roast chicken before:
www.biggreenegg.co.uk/blog/recipes/ingredient/chicken/ultimate-roast-chicken

Piri Piri chicken:
smittenkitchen.com/2016/09/piri-piri-chicken/

Chicken fajitas. I marinated the chicken in fajita spices and then skewered it with peppers and red onions. Tortillas can be warmed on the grill too. Homemade salsa and guacamole to go with it.

Prawn and chorizo tacos. Similar to the fajita but skewers of prawn and chorizo rather than chicken.

Tandoori chicken and shish kebabs. Naan bread can be warmer on the grill too.

Salmon poke bowls. Grilled a whole side of salmon marinated in soya sauce, honey and ginger rather than sushi salmon. Added some bbq broccoli and sugar snap peas. Salsa made with grilled corn. Served with sushi rice and lots of the usual poke accompaniments. Plent of inspiration on the internet.

Paella. This is probably one of my favourites.

We have a pizza stone for our bbq that I haven’t tried yet so the may be next weekend.

We often grill some fruit as well for pudding. Tonight we had grilled pineapple with ice cream.

I also highly recommend a perforated bbq tray for vegetables and more delicate items to stop them cooking too quickly or falling through the grill. Something like this.

I like to get some lamb leg steaks (sainsburys usually have good ones) and I marinate them with mint sauce (from a jar), smashed garlic, lemon juice, and oil (olive or rapeseed).

I also do chicken Persian style (any pieces of chicken will do but the mini fillet strips cook easily, as does boneless thigh. Make a marinade from grated onion, garlic, lemon juice (lots), oil and saffron (allow to steep in a very small amount of boiling water for a few minutes. Add the chicken and let sit for a few hours.

I also make kofte-style kebabs from 50/50 beef and lamb mince, kneaded together with grated onion (wring our the juice first - put it into the chicken dish if you’re doing that too), and then add mixed herbs, sumac, crushed garlic, turmeric, and a little saffron. Leave to sit in the fridge, then mould into kofte, around flat skewers if you have.