Vegetables require high heat
and oil. They will take on the
most amazing flavors.

Dry 'em, oil 'em, and keep 'em moving.
Similar process for all veggies.

Onions go with any red meat.

"grilled" salad basic ingredients   

With high heat you can caramelize
the sugar before the fruit goes soft   

Perfectly Charred Peppers 

It's easiest to do this with the skewer rack. Halve the peppers, skewer them, and move the coal basket up and down until they are exactly how you want them. The trick is to get a little char on the peppers while keeping the crunchy texture and taste.

It takes high heat and a close fire to do this properly. With most grills, by the time the peppers are charred they have gone limp and the flavor has changed. Some people like to scrape off the blackened part. It depends on how you are going to use them. If they are going into a salad, you probably don't want the char. If they are standing alone as a side dish, or going into fajitas, leave the char on.

We ate these peppers with some lamb kabobs from our local mideastern butcher shop. We almost got the camel steaks, but couldn't work up the courage. More to follow...

Vegetables

High radiant heat is the only way to properly char vegetables for fajitas, salads and side dishes. The ideal grilled veggie is smokey and warm, yet still crisp and full of it's earthy flavor. This takes high radiant heat, control, and attention. For tex-mex we use red or yellow onions, green and red bell peppers and if you are adventurous, try shallots which add a subtle garlic flavor. Almost any vegetable can be dowsed in olive oil and charred for more flavor. Here are a few unusual things that we haven't seen anywhere else:

Anise (fennel) can be split, oiled and grilled for amazing flavor. We usually microwave it for three minutes first, and then add smoke and char just before serving. It tastes wonderful with beef or pork.

Squash is a different story. Split it, butter it, season it,  and barbecue for about 30 minutes with the cover down, until it's soft. Eat as is. Or, to take it even higher, make it into soup that is truly unique. While the squash is barbecuing, brown the seeds and the "squash guts" in a sauce pan with a little butter. Add chicken broth and let it simmer. Strain out the seeds and pulp, and when the barbecued squash is soft, scrape it into the pan. Add some cream and use a hand-held blender. So good. Sweet, smokey, tangy.

Gooey Onions for steaks and chops

Start with sweet, white onions the size of a baseball. Microwave them four minutes on high. Cut them in half at the equator. On the grill, give 'em some char and move them to the back while you cook the meat. They get soft and sweet with a caramelized top.
Try this with Vedalias or some other "sweet" onion. Amazingly good with grilled meats. Our kids used to eat these with a spoon.

 

Grilled Salad

Try this. It's from Raichlin, who always knows what he's talking about. Split and lightly oil one head of Romaine. Bring the coal basket up high and put the lettuce face down over direct heat.Watch it like a hawk. It should look like this photo when you pull it off, brushed with flames. You're not cooking the lettuce, just charring it and giving it a little smoke.
This makes for some very unique flavors. We usually mix in another head of non-charred lettuce and serve it as a "chopped salad" with a good creamy Ceasar dressing, parmesano reggiano, and croutons that we toasted on the grill. (If nothing else, people will talk about that crazy grilled SALAD! they once had at your house.)

Grilled Fruit

Dust the fruit with sugar and use medium heat until caramelized and fruit is starting to soften. Flip the fruit and use higher heat to slightly char the other side. You'll probably want to use this side up for presentation because it's prettier. That's it. Similar story for pineapple, mango, apples, and pears.
Bananas are incredible when you split them the long way, (leave them in the peel) and sprinkle them with a spicy pork style rub. Barbecue with the cover closed until you get a slight browning. Sounds weird, tastes great.
NOTE: When you serve grilled fruit, use real whipped cream and homemade biscuits ... like a traditional strawberry shortcake. Or try serving it topped with sour cream sprinkled with brown sugar. Or best of all, make your own homemade ice cream (or at least buy a good quality ice cream).