Cooking inBarbecuing brings out the best in summer vegetables, especially if you smoke, rather than merely grill, aubergines, writes Hugo Arnold
This is the time to roast whole aubergines, grill large, flat-cap mushrooms to a juicy finish and chargrill red peppers to get rid of that remarkably tough skin. The more twisted and gnarled the peppers are, the better. Above all peppers have to have intensity of colour.
Aubergines are next in the flavour stakes. Their wilted flesh can be fashioned into Middle East-inspired dishes using garlic and cumin, lots of parsley and a lick or two of yogurt.
Courgettes are excellent with grilled meat and fish, particularly when they have been marinated in olive oil and thyme, or rosemary, or both.
And don't forget about mushrooms. Large ones wilt to a juicy, almost steak-like finish when you grill them. The only question is whether to treat them as meat or use them as a mere accompaniment. Not a bad dilemma to have on a balmy summer day.