The best recipes for a vegetarian barbecue

As a passionate omnivore, my overriding desire is to explode the myth that a good barbecue has to be all about Man vs Meat. Barbecuing is on an exponential rise. Running alongside that, the appetite for eating more veg and less meat is huge, as we realise it’s better for both our planet and our bodies if we make our diets a little less carnivorous.

The taste of pretty much any vegetable can be elevated by a little fire and smoke. Over a grill or griddle, some sort of magic happens: flavours intensify, surfaces caramelise and edges get irresistibly crisp and charred.

Kit and caboodle

Barbecue Get a barbecue with a lid, as you then have the option to use it like an oven.

Fuel Try to avoid charcoal from a garage or supermarket. This often contains chemicals to promote speedy lighting and can taint your food. I buy my fuel from the excellent Oxford Charcoal Company.

Chimney starter The simplest way to get your charcoal lit. Once you’ve got this cheap bit of kit, you won’t look back. Natural firelighters Find them in wood-stove shops and online, and in some supermarkets.

Plancha A plancha is a heavy-duty flat cooking surface. It’s brilliant for cooking fritters and flatbreads and delicate vegetables that might fall through the grill’s bars.

Griddle pan Use a heavy-duty cast-iron griddle on the stove to add that barbecue vibe to your food even when the weather outside is miserable.

Direct and indirect grilling

You either grill directly, over the fire, or indirectly, off to the side of the fire, or you can cook on both, which you could call two-zone cooking.

You can configure your charcoal arrangement in different ways: a ring around the edge, or a pile in the middle with the edges clear, or a sort of half-and-half arrangement with coals one side and nothing the other.

To achieve this with a gas barbecue you simply leave some of the burners unlit and use that side to cook indirectly.

Charred by Genevieve Taylor is published by Quadrille Publishing (£16.99). Order yours at books.telegraph.co.uk