Charred: The Complete Guide to Vegetarian Grilling and Barbecue

British cookbook author Taylor (The Ultimate Wood-Fired Oven Cookbook) provides spicy and smoky vegetarian options for gas or charcoal grills in this solid collection of hearty recipes. Kebabs fill the opening chapter, with tofu needing to be gently handled when constructing skewers flavored with, for instance, yakitori tofu, pineapple, and red pepper. Then it is on to burgers, where red meat is replaced by black beans in a Mexican black bean burger with avocado and chipotle sour cream. White beans have their moment as well, with white bean, grilled pepper, and mozzarella burgers. Both dishes are cooked in a frying pan, with vegetable oil, atop the heat source. The “Low, Slow and Smoked” section offers smoked mushrooms with sherry and garlic cream, and a surprising smoked onion soup with black olives and thyme, for which onion wedges are smoked for 90 minutes before being added to a pot with milk and heavy cream. Vegetables stuffed with other vegetables, such as grilled peppers with chickpeas, tomatoes, black olives, and harissa yogurt, can be found in a section of “stuffed and wrapped” treats, while 17 different plates meant for sharing round out the collection, many of which can be prepared on the stove top. This cornucopia of colorful vegetarian recipes should make for mouthwatering meals. (May)