Accompaniments For Your BBQ

A bbq isn’t just about sausages, burgers and fish dishes. There is plenty of room for a wide range of accompanying dishes to complement your grilled food. A little bit of forward thinking and presentation can go a long way towards making a bbq to remember.

Burger buns are a must if you are cooking burgers, but some fresh crusty bread will always go down a treat. A French stick looks good cut in diagonal slices, wrapped in a fresh cloth and laid in a long dish in the middle of the table. Put some butter in a covered butter dish as it will protect it from flies and bugs.

Homemade potato salad is very easy to make and can be made up the day before and chilled in the fridge. You can then bring it out just before the bbq begins. Simply cook and chop some new potatoes into fours, and mix in some mayonnaise and some chopped chives. Freeze dried chives work just as well as fresh ones, but freeze dried ones will be stronger in flavour so bear this in mind.

A Different Take On Salad

Salad can seem a bit boring and many people think of lettuce, cucumber and tomato and little else. But it doesn’t take much imagination to create something a little more appealing for your bbq.

A mixed onion platter is easy to do and contrary to what you may think, doesn’t have to be overpowering. Slice some red onion into thin rings, and chop some fresh spring onions the same way. Mix them both together with some chives, a spoonful of olive oil and salt and pepper to season, and then leave them to marinate for a couple of hours before serving. A bowl of beef tomatoes and cherry tomatoes – both halved – can be prepared in much the same way.

The perfect accompaniment (with the help of your traditional oven) to any bbq is a plate of jacket potatoes, especially if your bbq is in the evening. Pre-cook the potatoes most of the way in the oven as usual, and finish them off on the bbq. Remember if you do cook potatoes you will usually need less meat, so it can help with costs if you are on a budget. A simple serving of butter and salt and pepper is the perfect topping for any jacket potato.

Providing tasty accompaniments for your bbq doesn’t have to be difficult, and it doesn’t require wildly different ingredients. All it takes is a little forward thinking.