If you already grow your own veg, you'll appreciate the delights of eating them really fresh, and barbecuing is an enjoyable way of dealing with the inevitable gluts of high summer. Peppers, aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes and onions can simply be halved or quartered and cooked directly on the grill, while more robust vegetables such as squashes and potatoes can be wrapped in foil and baked amongst the coals. Spring onions, garlic and many herbs will find a place in marinades and dressings while lettuce, cucumber, peas and beans form key ingredients of tasty side salads.

Having a barbecue doesn't have to be an expensive or complicated undertaking either. At the simplest end of the scale, an al fresco meal for one or two could be cooked on a grid over a bucket of charcoal. At the other end of the scale you can feed the five thousand on a sophisticated gas or electric barbecue - the choice is yours

The vegetable barbecue experience is one with no drawbacks - it tastes fantastic, it doesn't annoy your neighbours with the smell of burning fat, it is cheap, fun and healthy. Take some great ingredients, take delicious recipes... take a new look at veg!

Treat your taste buds, bun the burgers and check out some of these exciting alternative barbecue recipes. Strike a blow for health, for variety and for using the freshest and best that your garden can produce.