Not too hot for summer grilling

From steaming food and rotisserie-style cooking to using wood planks for optimal ‘smoked' grilling, the humble barbecue has evolved from just slapping burgers on the grill to a refined approach to healthy dining.

Here are some top pointers to make your grilling more varied and enjoyable:

There are a variety of preparations that can make your foods more flavoursome on the grill and these can be roughly distributed into two main categories — marinades (wet) and rubs (dry).

Marinades should be prepared hours before you hit the barbecue and can consist of various ingredients ranging from soy sauce, honey, vinegar, garlic-ginger and lemon juice. In addition to tenderising your meat, marinades add a great depth of flavour that permeates the meat throughout.

Dry rubs don't require as much prep time. Add a selection of ingredients such as crushed peppercorns, paprika, chilli powder and cayenne to a small plastic lunch bag, add your cuts of meat and shake well. Let it sit for about half an hour and then start grilling. Dry rubs give a nice seared crust without going deeper into the meat itself, resulting in a lovely contrast of flavours.

 While barbecuing in general is a very healthy cooking method, steaming your food on the grill is taking the health quotient a notch higher. Use the papillote method: take a sheet of aluminium foil, fill half the sheet with any type of seafood and chopped vegetables, and fold over with the clear end. Wrap the ends tightly and place on the grill for about ten minutes. The natural juices of the seafood and vegetables create their own cooking steam.

Warning: although parchment paper is traditionally used in papillote cooking, this will burn on the grill and should only be used in the oven.

Another great technique for grilling seafood, planking adds a wonderful smokiness to salmon, halibut or any type of fish you want on your plate. Fully soak a thin cedar plank in warm water for a few hours, drain and dry on a cloth. Lay the plank on top of the grill and add your seafood. Slices of lemon underneath the fish also work well in imparting a lot of woody, citrusy flavour.

Give your grilling a whole new spin with a rotisserie attachment on your barbecue. Grill large pieces of meat, be it leg of lamb or a full chicken. Meats are generally juicier, self basted and slow roasted.

Lastly, the age-old debate — gas versus charcoal barbecues. While I generally prefer the latter from a flavour perspective, gas barbecues are easy to operate, heat up in minutes and the clean-up is a breeze. Unless you're willing to nurture and coax hot coals (and with summer well under way that is not a good idea) for 30 minutes or more, bypass the hassle and opt for a gas-operated grill.