Whether you’re a keen carnivore or an obligatory herbivore, as the host to a good barbecue you may have to cater for both tastes. Here’s how to barbecue some great vegetarian food, whether you’re a meat eater or a veggie. Let’s assume that some, if not most, of your guests are vegetarians. Best not to sever friendships (or needlessly upset people you like) for the sake of a few bits of charred meat. With a little attention to detail, and a little imagination, some delicious and healthy food can be enjoyed by all, whether they consider themselves vegetarians or not. Here’s a sound, step-by-step guide on how to have a delicious Vegetarian Barbecue:

1.    Make sure you have either completely (surgically) cleaned the barbecue grill of burnt-on meat deposits before the vegetables arrive, or have covered it with foil. Even if you eat meat, true vegetarians may well be quite upset if they discover that what they are eating has been cooked over a heat source infusing their food with unmistakeable flavours of vaporised lamb, beef or chicken. No matter how ‘nuked’ the latter will be, to the veggie palate they mean only one thing: meat. And to a veggie, meat means ‘don’t eat’.

You should clean it at least once a year, without fail.

2.    Prepare a generous selection of tasty vegetarian sides, but be adventurous. A few tired carrot or celery sticks will be dismally off-putting, no matter how various the dips. Try some homemade coleslaw with finely shredded cabbage, grated carrot, garlic and mayonnaise with Dijon mustard. Throw in a pasta salad – lightly fry a little chopped garlic in some butter (you can add a chopped mild chilli pepper if you’re adventurous) then toss it in with some hot, freshly cooked pasta shapes of your own choice, quartered cherry tomatoes, a handful or two of rocket leaves and some chopped fresh chives; then add as much grated parmesan as you like and season to taste. Even meat-eaters will tuck in to this.

Can’t go wrong with a bit of cheese

3.    Don’t be snobbish about commercial varieties of veggie hot-dogs, sausages and burgers – if carnivores can sling these onto a barbecue, so can veggies, and they’re equally tasty, especially between a fresh bap with onion rings, lettuce and relishes.

Use normal veggie burgers - they’re alright!

4.    For larger vegetables such as aubergine (halved lengthways) and corn on the cob, enhance the flavour with a marinade, and don’t forget to brush with the marinade and a little olive oil whilst cooking on the foil. Barbecued corn on the cob tastes great when it’s been rubbed with butter mixed with a pinch of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika first. But to make sure that larger vegetables are cooked through – without getting charred into oblivion along the way – wrap them in foil. You can get the authentic barbecue flavour at the end of cooking by leaving them on the grill unwrapped for a few minutes.

Get that authentic BBQ taste with something purple.

5.    A simple marinade of chilli oil, cumin, and crushed coriander seed mixed together gives a pleasing lift to the flavour of many vegetables. You can even coat some veggie kebabs with this (be adventurous – don’t just push a skewer through some onion and cherry tomatoes, add some chunks of courgette, pepper, or cooked new potatoes alternated with cubed halloumi cheese, even tofu).

Be adventurous with your kebabs!

6.    Investing in a grilling basket means that you can cook a range of chopped vegetables on the barbecue with ease, giving your guests a generous smorgasbord of veggie flavours.

Throw all the veggies into a lovely roasting pit

7.    Try barbecuing come thick asparagus spears brushed with seasoned olive oil for about five minutes. Remove from the heat when you can see they’re getting browned in places.

Perhaps don’t use the bacon for your vegetarian guests

8.    Roast a whole bulb of garlic wrapped in foil over the grill until it’s soft (it’ll taste sweeter and milder now). Drizzle some olive oil over sliced ciabatta bread, season lightly with salt and pepper, and squeeze the garlic out of the roasted cloves bulb over it. Place on the grill and wait for the bread to turn golden brown – delicious garlic bread awaits your taste buds.

You can’t go wrong with roasted garlic

9.    If you’re not afraid of getting your hands a little messy you could even try making your own vegetarian burgers or sausages. Depending on your tastes (or that of your guests if you know them well), you can vary the mix of ingredients but generally you can’t go wrong with mashed lentils or beans as the main ‘substance’ of the burger, with added flavours thrown in. Add some or all of the following: finely chopped onion, crushed garlic, finely chopped nuts, grated cheese of your choice, finely chopped parsley (or any other chopped herb of your liking), breadcrumbs and – to hold it all together – some beaten egg. You can shape these into small sausages or burgers. Brush lightly with a little olive oil and grill.

You could make them yourself!

10.    You may be happy with the usual range of beers and wine for your guests to quaff but to enhance the vegetarian theme, you could in addition offer a range of fruit smoothies, even allowing people to mix their own by selecting their preferred fresh or frozen fruits and zuzzing them together with yoghurt or ice-cream in a blender.

Smoothies are something everyone can enjoy

11.    You can round off with some fabulous barbecued desserts, which are often exceptionally simple and mouth-wateringly delicious. For example, try brushing bananas (sliced lengthways and then across the middle so that you have four pieces per fruit) with a mixture of sugar, melted butter, ground cinnamon and lime juice. After barbecuing them for a few minutes, place them in a flame-proof dish on the grill, along with any of the remaining melted butter mix and dowse them generously in rum whilst still hot. Use a long match and flambé. Serve quickly with a generous scoop or two of vanilla ice-cream.

Fruit +BBQ = happiness

12.    Take care with vegan guests – be careful not to use apparently vegetarian, shop-bought foods which have been made with meat ingredients (in other words, check the labelling carefully), and eliminate cheese and dairy products from the food you serve them. Fresh fruit will generally go down well as a dessert for the vegan-minded. Enjoy the food and the company!

Question - would you allow a vegan at your BBQ?

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