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Cooked on the barbecue, fresh vegetables make for a light main or a bright side dish packed full of nutrients. But not all vegetables are created equal. Choosing your product according to whether it’s in season is a way to connect with local growers while also boosting the textures, flavours, and vitamins on your plate – just make sure you use a Weber Basket to catch all those lovely juices. At Weber, we will be telling you all about the best food to eat every season, next with Summer:

AUBERGINES

... are the king of the vegetarian kebab, but need a lot of oil to avoid drying out. Dice them,
marinate them in decent olive extra virgin, salt, garlic, and herbs, and heat them up when the time is right. They should be ready to squeeze off their skewers in ten minutes. Originally from Asia, they're the bedrock of many global cuisines. High in antioxidants, in northern Europe the season begins in June.

NEW POTATOES

… classics of any BBQ salad, few think ahead to also grill the new potatoes, before slicing them
up. But chuck them in some foil with some shallots (also in season), salt and butter and 20 minutes later, you'll have an extra kick to your side-dishes. Try making potato salad the German way, without mayonnaise, but lots of oil, dill, and pickles. New potatoes are one of a dizzying number of starchy tubers that were cultivated in Peru, before being brought to Europe by the Conquistadores. They're packed with B vitamins, making them an extra healthy carbohydrate.

FENNEL

... is perfect chucked on the barbecue almost whole. It is just about the most Summer-tasting of all summer vegetables – fragrant, light, slightly sharp and sweet. Just slice them in two, drizzle them in oil and tarragon, and put them in the basket until they are just soft and sweet – about 15 minutes should do it. Serve with a squeeze of lemon. Fennel was beloved of the ancient Romans, with Pliny the Elder a particularly big fan – who thought snakes ate them to improve their eyesight. Packed with vitamins as they are, he may have been onto something. It comes into high season in August.

The best tools to grill seasonal vegetables