By Andrew Galarneau

Grilling season calls for ways to add vegetables to the table, transformed by fierce heat.

You can grill anything, but getting people to eat the results is another matter. Here are my favorite grilled vegetable recipes, crowd-pleasers honed over decades. These are all vegan, with no animal products required to reach full splendor.

First, a few general principles to keep in mind, drilled into my brain over a thousand fires.

Ingredients headed for the grill should be cut to uniform thickness, so they cook at roughly the same speed. 

Place ingredients on the grill the same way – skin up or skin down – to aid in keeping track of the cooking stage of each piece. When you turn one over, turn them all. Then it’s harder to lose track and over- or under-cook a piece.

Only use half to two-thirds of your grill, leaving a cool island with no lit charcoal or gas flames beneath it to place ingredients in danger of overcooking.

If you’re not sure it’s done, take it off the grill. Thicker pieces will continue to cook from residual heat and soften further. If testing suggests you want them done more, just return them to the grill. Undercooking can be fixed easily, but the best cook in the world is powerless to undo mushy zucchini.

Zucchini and summer squash

Squashes like zucchini and summer squash are too often grilled to mush. This procedure aims for vegetables that are cooked but still firm.

Wash squash and trim ends. Slice in half lengthwise. 

If larger than roughly 1.5 inches in diameter, cut into quarters lengthwise. To avoid mushy grilled squash, trim out the seed pulp by slipping a knife along the line where pulp meets flesh.

Sprinkle with soy sauce and sesame oil, or simply vegetable oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

Place squash pieces on a hot grill. Turn every three to five minutes, until the squash is marked by fire. When pieces start to get floppy when picked up with tongs, remove them to a platter for service.

Broccoli and cauliflower

Both crucifers take well to grilling. Trim the end of the stalk, then use a knife to cut the head into florets with long stems, keeping the surfaces flat wherever possible. Toss with seasonings and grill, turning frequently, until the stems start to blister and the crowns brown. Remove to a bowl and apply more seasonings, like your favorite salad dressing, or maybe just a pat of butter.

Sweet onions

Peel and slice an inch-thick, and they should hold together during grilling. If that seems unlikely, run bamboo BBQ skewers (after soaking them in water for 30 minutes) through the slices before grilling. No sauce needed — that caramelization is all-natural.

Grilled miso eggplant

Inspired by classic Japanese nasu no dengaku, which is often finished under an oven broiler if a grill doesn’t work for you.

Ingredients:

4 Japanese eggplants, or 2-3 European eggplants, cut into ¾-inch slices

¼ cup mild red or white miso, or Korean doenjang

1 tablespoon Korean gochujang, fermented red pepper paste (optional)

3 tablespoons honey or sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar (white, red, cider, rice)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

¼ cup sliced scallions (optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together miso or doenjang, vinegar and oils. Use gochujang if you like a lick of heat.

Japanese eggplants should be stemmed and split lengthwise. Then use a sharp knife to cross-hatch the flesh without puncturing the skin. Later on, these will bubble with juice, and we’d like to keep most of it in the eggplant boat.

European eggplants should be sliced into discs between ½ and 1 inch thick. Do your best to make them of similar thickness.

Place eggplant on a hot grill. Using a heatproof basting brush or a rolled-up paper towel, apply glaze to all surfaces. 

Turn and baste every 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the fierceness of your heat. Eggplant will start to bubble when it’s thoroughly cooked, with beads of eggplant sweat forming on the surface. That means it’s done, or nearly so.

Once the glaze is on, keep your eyes and nose open, because you want to caramelize the slices, not burn them. The glaze’s sweetness means it only takes a minute to overcook, and go from choice to charcoal, so don’t worry if you torch a couple as I did at first. You’ll get the timing.

When limp and caramelized, remove to platter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions, if using, and serve.

Sweet peppers 

Turning sweet peppers into velvety, fruity roasted pepper strips is kind of a pain, but no one can argue with the results.

Roast your peppers on a grill or under a broiler, turning to blacken all sides equally, until they collapse. Remove to a covered bowl and let cool, as the steam loosens the skin.

Clean the peppers, removing cellophane-like skin, flakes of burnt skin, seeds, stems, and ribs. This is a hands-on process. While you can rinse your hands as much as you like, resist the impulse to rinse the peppers. That would wash away critical flavor elements.

Once peppers are cleaned, add minced fresh garlic, a splash of vinegar, a glug of your best olive oil, fresh herbs of your choice, like basil, parsley or cilantro, and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly to coat all of the peppers.

They can keep in the fridge for a week, longer if you cover them with oil. When you’re done with all the peppers, I suggest making pasta sauce with the oil.

Pineapple

Even the cheapest, least ripe pineapple can star on the grill.

Peel the pineapple and cut it into ½-inch or so slices. Just try to be consistent for even cooking time.

Supermarket pineapples are plenty sour, so we’ll add salty and sweet for the glaze. Others might add a spicy element with some dashes of Frank’s or another cayenne hot sauce, or more powerful stuff. Not me.

Soy sauce, light or dark, mixed with honey at a 1:1 ratio works. So does kecap manis, Indonesian sweet soy, already 75 percent on the way to caramel.

Put slices on grill. Baste and turn until they are done to your liking.

REVIEW: Saffron Kitchen has opened in the former Record Theatre, offering Buffalo a broader array of Persian cuisine. Skewers of beef kubideh grilled with tomatoes, and kabuli pulao, a fragrant rice pilaf that’s Afghanistan’s national dish. Yogurt-smothered beef or leek dumplings. Now you can order ghormeh sabzi, kidney bean, lamb and herb stew, tangy with dried lime, and a pitcher of aryan, a yogurt drink with cucumber and mint. (For patrons, later this week.)

CHERRY PICKING TIME

In Appleton, nine varieties of cherries are open for u-pick at Bittner-Singer Farms, 6620 Lake Road.

This week, Dark Sweets, Dark Tarts, Burgundy Pearl, White Sweet, Emperor Francis, Stardust, Danube and Montmorency pie cherries are ready for pickers, said Jim Bittner. Check back for the latest, he said. “We will have different varieties of cherries ripening till late July.”

Here are all the details.

If you’re looking for already-picked cherries, you can head down the road a piece to Singer Farm Naturals, 6730 Lake Rd, Appleton. Besides fresh-picked cherries, Singer Farm Naturals recently started offering a broad selection of marijuana products, 90 percent Singer-grown.

SUMMER 101: Sign up for a delicious educational seminar – dinner and a show – at Peking Quick One July 15, Alibaba Kebab Amherst July 23, and Alibaba Kebab Kenmore Aug. 6.

Tickets, $30, include meal and lecture – and you can add a copy of Where to Eat in Buffalo 2026 for $4 off the cover price. Get your tickets here.

ASK THE CRITIC

Q: Many friends are asking me where to get Somali takeout. Any recs? Horn of Africa? I’ve never been, so I’m not sure what to recommend.

– Danielle R., via Facebook Messenger

A: Since Somali Star closed on Grant Street, there are no restaurants in Western New York describing themselves as Somali, or run by Somalis. I would suggest Horn of Africa, 610 Hertel Ave., which, in addition to having excellent food, describes itself as Ethiopian and Eritrean. Or Abyssinia Ethiopian Cuisine in International House, Buffalo’s longest-serving Ethiopian restaurant, from Zelalem Gemmeda.

More local food and restaurant stories compiled by Michael Chelus of Nittany Epicurean:

• Mr. Galarneau wrote about a fixture in Lockport – Fieldstone Country Inn [Four Bites]
• Andrew starts teaching his summer semester – Four Bites 101 – this month and will be teaching classes at Peking Quick One and Alibaba Kebab [Four Bites]
• Andrew also told that his favorite breakfast sandwiches can be found at places like Mayback Deli, Mojo Market, the Grange Outpost and more [Four Bites]
• The Erie County Fair announced the winners for Best in Show for its home brew and cider competitions [Buffalo Beer League]
• Christa wrote about some of the best outdoor dining spots in Buffalo [Buffalo Spree]
• Christa also told us the story behind Hānai Hawaiian BBQ [Buffalo Spree]
• Brian’s Buffalo Beer Buzz told us about the return of Minky Day from Thin Man, the release of a trio of collabs from Other Half and more [Buffalo Beer League]
• Brian also gave us a full recap of the Buffalo Beer Draft [Buffalo Beer League]
• Francesca wrote about the Ethiopian cuisine at Horn of Africa on Hertel [Buffalo News]

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