Grilling fruit intensifies its sweetness and helps release natural juices. Credit: Flickr / Mike McCune

Grilling is often associated with sizzling steaks, juicy burgers and charred chicken, but the world of outdoor cooking extends far beyond meat.

Many vegetables also undergo a magical metamorphosis on the grill, benefitting from a smoky flavor and a delightfully charred exterior. Our summer Sunday Funday events aren’t complete without some kind of pepper, squash or mushroom kissed with fire from the grill, and charred edamame or shishito peppers offer difficult-to-top fireside snacking.

Fruit shines on the grill too. Our personal favorites — especially for poolside noshing — are pineapple and watermelon, caramelized to perfection and sprinkled with lime juice and salt. Grilling fruit intensifies its sweetness and helps release natural juices.

Fruits with pits, such peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines, peak at different times throughout the summer, so you’ll legitimately never be without an option for a fresh grilled dessert that’s as easy as adding a drizzle of honey and sprinkle of cinnamon after a quick sear.

Other non-meat offerings for the grill, such as marinated tofu or tempeh, take on a smoky, flavorful profile that adds serious depth to plant-based dishes. For those who simply must grill up a meat-forward main course, we suggest grilled avocado, mashed and spread onto a burger bun for a little smoky fattiness in place of mayo. Trust us on this one.

This summer, you can diversify your grilling repertoire by exploring non-meat ingredients with suggestions from San Antonio chefs. We asked five culinary pros for their ideas on what kinds of non-meat grillables make for great summer cookouts. One chef even offered up a quick recipe.

Chef Teddy Liang

Chef-consultant, Conversa Elevated, Gather Brewing Co. and more

“Grilling feta! It’s meaty, fatty, and you can add even more flavor with a light marinade. It’s great for summer on a light beet or Mediterranean salad, but you can also add it to a kebab. Personally, I’ve had a craving for grilling pork belly with some grilled kimchi. Funky, but it offers a lot of umami flavors.”

Chef James Moore

Chef-consultant, The Creamery

“I like doing a fruit crumble on the grill. Berries tossed in lemon juice, sugar, corn starch, a little butter. Throw it in a cast-iron skillet and top with the crumble mixture: half oats, half flour, brown sugar and butter cut into that. Set it on the rack above the grill, so it’s off the direct heat, and it picks up a really badass smokiness. That also works for rhubarb, peaches, cherries. For savory options, people really underestimate throwing a sandwich on really crusty bread on the grill. Turkey and provolone, throw a brick on top of it, press it a little. Fucking delicious.”

Chef Jesse “Kirk” Kuykendall

Ocho at Hotel Havana, Milpa

“Grilled sweet plantains with rum, topped with marshmallows, chocolate and crushed graham crackers. My weakness for bananas Foster combined with camping s’mores is the highlight of the night when grilling is concerned. With butter-brushed sweet plantain halves, rum-soaked marshmallows, abuelita’s chocolate syrup and crushed graham crackers.”

Chef Paul Petersen

Bar Loretta

“I have been known to grill up romaine, bread and some roma tomatoes for a backyard Caesar salad dressed with grilled fresh anchovies. [Dress the romaine with] a little olive oil, salt and pepper. And use real-deal parmesan.”

Chef Robbie Nowlin

Arrosta, Allora, Maverick Texas Brasserie

“I love grilling Texas peaches! I like to buy mine when they are a little firm to the touch, so that they hold up to the grill. I simply cut them in half, remove the pit, brush with extra virgin olive oil, season with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper and onto the grill they go! A nice little char from the grill enhances their natural sweetness. I love serving them with a whipped vanilla mascarpone dip.”

Chef Robbie’s Vanilla Mascarpone “Dip”

3 ounces mascarpone cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup heavy cream

Mix well with a whisk to combine. Chill and serve with grilled Texas peaches.

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This article appears in May 31 – Jun 13, 2023.

Nina Rangel uses nearly 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry to tell the stories of movers and shakers in the food scene in San Antonio. As the Food + Nightlife Editor for the San Antonio...