I love to cook, but BBQ-ing (or grilling as you say in the US) isn't something I've done much of. DH will BBQ when we have smokies, burgers, or corn on the cob, and that's it. Recently I've starting to experiment a bit, and I'm starting to learn how to do more on the BBQ.

This weekend we're celebrating my Dad's b-day, and tradition is that the birthday person gets to choose the menu. He wants BBQ-ed food, and seafood. I'm going to skewer a ton of veggies for a side dish, and either leave them skewered for ppl to choose what veggies they want, or take them off the skewers, and toss them with balsamic & olive oil to make a warm veg salad. For dessert I want to do peaches - cut them in half, remove pit, and BBQ each side for 1-2 minutes, then serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I'm stuck on the meat, though. I have a side of salmon I'd like to do something with, and I might do some prawns as well. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or ideas how to make the dessert and veggies even better?

If I'm really ambitious, I'd like to find an appetizer that could go on the BBQ too, but that might be pushing it?

Would love to hear your thoughts. We enjoy all kinds of flavours, lots of international flavours and/or spicy food is very good. I also just started a fresh herb garden and have 7 different kinds I could use.

thanks in advance for your help!

What about grilled pineapples for dessert? Those things are tasty! The rodizio restaurants around here serve them and they are delightful!!

We just made the grilled peaches/ice cream for dessert last night! Yum!! I also made a caramel sauce with a bit of cinnamon to glaze the peaches with as they are grilling, and then to drizzle on top of the icecream. So good. And, about three weeks ago, we grilled fresh pineapple...also delish! For that glaze, I made a caramel sauce, but added lite coconut milk to it. (the caramel sauce is so easy: 1 cup of sugar (I use brown sugar for the peaches), 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan, let boil (stirring tons), cool down to thicken, and its ready to go!)

The other night, some friends had us over for dinner, and they bbqued all sorts of veggies; red onion, green onions, squash--big, thick slices just slapped directly on the grill. The veggies were great, and they were only brushed with olive oil (honestly, I thought the veggies would be so bland, but happily I was wrong).

I don't grill to much meat, but when we do fish we wrap it in foil with butter, lemon pepper, fresh herbs and a bit of hot sauce.

Um, what else: sometimes I bbq veggie packets: I cut up onions, squash, okra, carrots, whatever else is growing in my garden, throw in chopped up cilantro, chives, lemon basil, a tad of hot sauce, and add a spoonful of butter all wrapped up in foil. BBQued for 6-10 minutes, yum.

Oh, and an appetizer idea might be to bbq whole heads of garlic served with brie and toasted (or grilled) bread. Or something with artichokes?

There's just so much that can be done on the grill. Your party sounds great, I'm sure it will be delicious and your dad will love it!!

I have a great sweet pickle recipe if anyone wants it.

Peaches on the grill is really good..ya know what else is good on top of them...reduce some balasamic vingegar and brown sugar in a sauce pan on the stove til it becomes like a thick syrup then drizzle over the grilled peaches...sooo good! I also agree grilled pineapple is delicious

A tip for doing red onions on the grill..one of me and DH's favs..I cut mine in big thick slices and sprinkle on some garlic salt and then pour some balsamic vinegar on top (I just realized both these recipes using balsamic..lol) and let it marinade for a while in the fridge, then toss on the grill. They get nice and carmalized and yummy!

I love cooking on the grill.

I also do kabobs with steak, red onion and pineapple.

I make a marinade for the steak, which is basically your fav bbq sauce, steak sauce, mustard, a lil worstechire (sorry if thats spelled wrong) and few dashes of soy and hot sauce.

I cut my steak up into chunks and toss them in a ziplock bag in the marinade, let them hang out in the frdige for a few hours then put them on the skewers with the onions and pineapple. I made this for my inslaws one night and they loved it. I usually make a side of rice to go with it, like rice pilaf

For the prawns, simply shell, douse with a little olive oil, fresh garlic, and maybe some thyme or oregano then skewer them and grill. While those were going, you could make up a packet of tomatos and zucchini with spices. When they are both cooked, the tomatos and zuc. will be a little soupy-- a perfect base to put under some lovely hot-off-the-grill prawns.

You could always go the steak route for your other-- cut up into chunks and marinate overnight in a soy/ginger/mustard/garlic/red peper flake concotion- that is my go-to and is SO GOOD. You can also buy a cheaper cut and about an hour before grilling add in an acid-like lemon or lime juice- to tenderize more...you'd never know you weren't eating a prime cut of meat if you marinate/tenderize in advance.

Other great items on the grill include cutting up thick slices of onion. Brush w/ olive oil, skewering them through both "sides" [so the sticks form an X through the onion] and grilling those.
Romaine lettuce in small bunches are also a really tasty and different-- and EASY! to grill. You could have you're app right there-- a warm romaine salad with some really tasty dressing and some crumbled bacon you cooked ahead.

A baguette toasted on the grill would go wonderful with a red-pepper dip...which is simply red pepper, some olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and white bread. Whir all those ingredients up until you get a dip-like consistancy...very summery and a nice alternative to butter.

Your dessert sounds really tasty and fresh. Like others I would suggest whipping up a little brown sugar sauce or even finishing the peaches it on the stove with brown sugar, a little butter, a splash of rum and letting all of that caramelize..mmm. Peaches are a nice choice because they are in season right now and sooo good.

As a side, thought I'd throw this out there--if you can't get farm raised(sorry, just a belief I hold) believe it or not BJs [and other wholesale?] has some really, really good red meat that doesn't cost your soul for the amount you get. That way to can save your pennies for getting the really good farmers market veggies and good quality fruits

Funny your dad is having a b-day and wants grilled meat....my dad does, too! Creepy!

wow you guys have tons of ideas, thanks so much! I am getting hungry! Good appetizer ideas, too, I might do some kind of kebabs or the baguette and dip.

StLGal, I love anything done in balsamic, so I am with you there! One of my favourite quick dinners is to stir-fry some broccoli and coloured peppers with garlic, and once they're done, toss them with cooked whole wheat pasta, olive oil, balsamic and lots of feta cheese. Every time I eat it I can't get over how amazing it tastes!

Absy, you really have some tasty ideas. I like the idea of adding some rum to the caramel sauce for the peaches. I might try your prawns idea, too. And what's BJ's? I don't know if we have that in Canada, so I'm curious.

I won't try it tomorrow since I already have a ton of peaches to use, but how do you go about grilling a pineapple? I've never heard of that but it sounds awesome!

I just buy a whole fresh pineapple, cut all the outside part off and cut it up into rings and then throw them on the grill til they get a few grill marks..thats it!