BBQ ideas please

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We're having another barbecue this weekend and I'm bored of the usual sausages, burgers and Bbq chicken portions.
Please inspire me with your best barbecue things, especially salad, fish/seafood and veg.

You've got to have sausages, just to be able to say sausages in the 'That's Life' voice to your guests.

Salmon BBQ's very well. We tend to marinade either with Cajun spices or tandoori. I then use either a metal BBQ basket or skewers to do peppers and onions to go with it (courgette and mushrooms sometimes too), with a little of the same marinade.

I know you said you're bored of chicken but I do the same thing with chicken but serve with little wraps/tortillas for variety.

Ribs are nice for a change too. Used to be a BBQ staple but not so common now.

Prawns would happily take the same treatment, on skewers with the veg.

Halloumi is fab on a BBQ too. Thickish slices and you don't need to do anything special to them if you don't want.

Giant field mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese (flavoured if you want) BBQ well.

I also do the thin cut minute steaks sometimes. Marinade in a bit of garlic oil and well peppered, they cook so fast and are really tasty.

I always want potatoes with a BBQ so when pushed for time I just do buttery new potatoes but you can fling those on the BBQ for a few minutes once they're done for a change in flavour. Or I do a potato salad (potato and eggs tossed with 50/50 mayo and natural yogurt as the base). You can add all sorts to it depending on your family tastes.

A tomato based pasta salad can be nice for a change too.

My favourite bbq side is asparagus - marinate in olive oil, salt and pepper then char on the bbq. Absolutely delicious!

Halloumi slices are also a great alternative to meat.

Also skewers are great. I do king prawns (marinate in garlic butter first), and ones loaded with chunky veg.

Always have potato salad, cous cous salad, sometimes beetroot & bean sprout salad, broad bean + avo + prawn salad, mozzarella and beef tomato salad.

These chicken skewers are delicious and easy - I've grilled and airfried them, but not tried BBQing yet. Ignore the wraps and slaw, they go with almost anything. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-lemon-skewers

Paneer tikka skewers https://www.tamingtwins.com/paneer-tikka-recipe/ served with naan or roti, and Indian slaw https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/spiced-indian-slaw.html

Spinach and feta flatbreads https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/barbecued-spinach-and-feta-flatbreads.html and stuffed peppers https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/recipes/grilled-mediterranean-peppers

Fish burgers https://www.mob.co.uk/recipes/barbecued-fish-burgers

My favourite is butterflying a leg of lamb, marinate it, and it cooks comparatively quickly (we have a gas BBq) so 25 to 35 minutes.

Asparagus, mushrooms and peppers are lovely bbqed.

My sister does a camembert in a box and flat garlic breads.

Salmon straight from the freezer.

Kippers.

Lamb chops.

Hi.. We have BBQs religiously here.. Hubby special orders thinly sliced lamb chops that we generously salt before cooking over hot charcoal.. I make my own homemade lamb Kefta then skewer it.. marinated chicken wings are always a winner too just make sure it’s a homemade marinade as opposed to a ready made one.. For sides we bbq whole corn cobs, fattoush, Greek salad and Tabouleh.. If we have guests coming I like to make a pasta salad or a flavoured rice (typically Kabsa).. I’m known for my homemade garlic sauce which pairs with bbq chicken.. I also like to butterfly whole chickens then whip up a yummy homemade tandoori paste, marinate the chicken over night then cook over hot charcoal flipping it every few minutes.. Hope this helps in some way

Butterflied leg of lamb or chicken is amazing.

Pumpkin, eggplant, potato, sweet potato, corn all bbq well.

Beer can chicken

If you're committed to the cause, smoked brisket.

Char Sui pork

Chicken shawarma

Tom Kerridge has an amazing avocado cream and charred corn side dish.

Grilled pineapple with a mint and Malibu syrup for dessert.

Nan or flat bread on the bbq are great too....

roasted lettuce is surprisingly nice as are pea pods roasted whole and then you salt and eat the peas like edamame beans.

Our faves at the moment are spatchcock chicken with a spicy jerk marinade served with corn on the cob and tomato salad, or lamb chops marinaded in garlic and herbs served with Greek salad, cous cous and flat breads.

Tuna steaks are beautiful cooked on the bbq. I marinade them in balsamic vinegar, chilli and garlic for thirty minutes before seasoning with salt and pepper and putting on the bbq. Cooking time depends on how pink you like it but I go for about 2 mins each side.

Thanks all - sounds amazing!
How the eff do you butterfly a leg of lamb??! I once saw someone BBG a whole leg from raw - it took ages, but was worth the wait!

Has yours got a bone in?

Yes. How have I got to nearly 50 without realising you can get boneless legs of lamb?!

I had the butcher do it in front of me.

On the side where the bone is closest to the top, slice from top to bottom. Then start “skinning” the bone, cutting around the fatter ends as you go. Butchers are quick and neat - I am not. Use a knife with a smooth, narrower blade.

I lie it flat in a tray. Some bits are thicker than others so slice from top to bottom (NOT all the way through) to make wedges or slices of meat that are vaguely even in thickness.

Because it’s in the tray, you can now drizzle it all with garlic, oil, lemon, rosemary, thyme, whatever. Then you can just turn and turn until the time comes to cook. Hot bbq, 15 minutes, turn over, 10 minutes, rest, slice and serve. Enjoy.

To butterfly a chicken, shears are very useful.

Breast side down, slice the skin down the backbone and, using the shears, slice through the ribs on each side of the spine and remove it.

Turn over so it lies sort of flat and press on the breastbone slowly until it cracks. Job done.

Again, I lie it in a tray for marinating, painting, flavouring, whatever. A hot bbq, 20 minutes a side depending on the size of the bird and the juices run clear from the thickest part, rest, serve and enjoy.

We did a half leg of lamb, butterflied last week. It was amazing. I marinaded it in lemon, olive oil, garlic and rosemary in the morning and then we cooked it on the gas BBQ with the grill on a medium - with the lid on.

Asparagus wrapped in parma ham drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil - delicious.
Similarly, mushrooms wrapped in pancetta on skewers - win.

I love to do an aubergine salad where I BBQ aubergine slices then create a dressing with olive oil, sherry vinegar, garlic and chilli and top with chopped mint and vinegar. Delicious.

Lamb chops are great on the BBQ - marinade thin ones and cook hard and fast - no more than a couple of minutes each side.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/herby-orzo-lemon-salad

I get the butcher to butterfly it for me. But I have done it myself - it's easy enough to be honest, but there's less waste when the butcher does it!

There are youtube videos.

it is delicious roasted and if butterflied doesn't take long. M&S sell them already butterflied.

Thanks all. I'm hungry just reading all of your ideas.

I'm going to try to do butterflied lamb leg with lemon/harissa spice marinade, and a couscous/feta salad; onions and peppers on skewers, parma-wrapped asparagus and cream cheese-stuffed mushrooms. Mmmmm!

And some burgers in case there are fussy people!