When the temperatures skyrocket and the thought of turning on your oven—or even a burner—is laughable, grilling may be your best option if you don’t want to resort to yet another cold, bland salad. If you’re lucky enough to live in a place where having a space large and safe enough to grill outdoors is an option, then firing up the grill on even the hottest of days shouldn’t be too much of an issue. But if you, like me, are in a balcony-less apartment, you may have to settle for a George Foreman type of situation (which is still far superior to turning on the oven, if you ask me).
Regardless of what your grill situation looks like, you’re probably most likely to pull out the grill when you’re planning on cooking meat or fish. If you’re keeping things on the lighter side, you may decide to grill tofu or veggies or even tempeh. But there’s one often-overlooked food group that you should consider when you’re grilling this summer: fruit.
Hear me out. Grilled fruit is one of summer’s greatest pleasures. Cooking your fruit helps highlight its sweetness, and the slightly smoky flavor from the grill adds a whole new element to an otherwise standard fruit salad. Let’s take a look at some of the fruits you should be throwing on the grill this summer—it might just change the way you look at your produce.
Peaches
When you’re on the hunt for grilled fruit recipes, chances are you’ll come across quite a few that include grilled peaches. If you want to take things the savory route, you can add grilled peaches to salads or use them to add some sweetness and acidity to cooked meat. Don’t like sweet stuff with your savory dishes? Use your peaches for dessert instead. They’re delicious on their own, or you can pair them with ice cream for a simple but sophisticated dessert.
To make the cooking process as easy and as painless as possible, cut your peaches in half, not in slices, before putting them on the grill. Peach slices can get slippery and difficult to handle, while peach halves will be easier to remove from the grill when they’ve achieved the preferred toastiness.
Pineapples
Usually when you’re shopping for pineapples, you want to ensure that you’re getting the ripest of the bunch. However, when your intention is to grill pineapple, you’re better off searching for a pineapple that’s just slightly underripe. Very ripe pineapples contain a lot of sugar, which can easily burn when you put them on your grill.
Marinate your pineapple slices in some butter and hot sauce for pineapple rings with a kick, or just add some brown sugar on top of the slices for an even richer, sweeter dessert.
Watermelon
Watermelon is the most iconic fruit of the summer months, but you may not realize that it’s even better after it’s been grilled. It doesn’t take long for it to develop beautiful grill marks, and it slowly changes consistency from juicy and watery to a firmer, almost meaty texture. It’ll have a chewiness to it that makes it feel more substantial than a raw piece of watermelon. Your watermelon will also take on a subtle smokiness after hanging out on the grill for a few minutes.
For best results, cut your watermelon into slices, then quarter them. Leave the rind on while you’re grilling—this will make it easier to turn the slices over halfway through the cooking process. When you’re done, add some salt, lemon juice, Tajin, chili powder and/or whipped feta to your watermelon slices. Summer cookouts have never been juicier.
Strawberries
Even if you’ve grilled a lot of fruit before, grilling strawberries may still seem odd to you, but believe me when I say that it’ll change the way you think about berries. For best results, put your strawberries on a soaked skewer, and brush them with some melted butter before placing them on the grill. When they come off the heat, you can either leave them whole and enjoy them on their own or slice them and add to a salad or bowl of ice cream. I love grilled strawberries on some vanilla ice cream with just a touch of lemon zest on top.
Mangoes
Mangoes may just be the best fruit in the world, so it’s not hard to believe that they get even better after they’ve spent some time getting charred on a grill. Slice your mango into halves, score it and place it face-down on the grill so it acquires those beautiful char marks you’re looking for. Although you can always leave your grilled mangoes plain, I think they’re at their best when they’re sprinkled with chili powder, salt and lime juice. If you’re looking for some added sweetness, add a drizzle of agave syrup.
Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.