Barbecue On A Budget

 Happiness is a barbecue yet it can get expensive? What to do ? You can cut corners and still have a tasty spread. It's just knowing how to budget and create flavorful dishes.

A barbecue and garden produce go hand in hand. You can easily take those early ripened beefsteaks and use those to top burgers. They also are great for all sorts of salad too.One of my favorites, panzanella requires just sliced tomatoes - any kind, fresh basil chiffonaded and olive oil. Garlic from the garden can flavor the salad and any salad for that matter.If you;re luckily enough to have corn in your garden take advantage of it. Grilled corn is a great side but it can also be used in corn salads for a different take on barbecue dishes. Add onions tomatoes and cucumber for a tasty colorful dish. A simple vinaigrette is perfect here so it can let all the different flavors shine.Shiny, purple eggplant are gracing garden patches right now and it's time to enjoy their creamy textured and earthy flavor. These are a great meat sub for any barbecue and they can be barbecued in a variety of ways.Brush slices with an herbal oil and grill both sides for a few minutes. A homemade bruschetta is also a great topping for eggplant along with Parmesan cheese too.

Of course there are great stores like Lidl that can help you with a budget barbecue. Try their onion burgers which taste like the burgers your mom and Gran made. These have bits of sweet onion in them. Lidl' also has pure beef and turkey patties too , ranging anywhere from $11.99 to $7.99 Walmart also has a good price on the meat patties being a dollar more than Lidl (although I think Lidl has the more flavorful patties)Bubba 's Burgers which can be bought almost everywhere are also a  good deal. Acme me has a twelve pack of the turkey kind for $9.99 . Keep in mind you can also sub in veggie and bean burgers too.Are homemade bean burgers just as moist and tasty as the store bought ones? Yes and much cheaper too. It's a mix of black beans (which are usually sixty cents a can), bread crumbs and a egg. These last are for binding. You can add chopped onions as you would with regular burgers. Spices such as ground ancho peppers and chipotle also give some zing and zest. 

You can have a good barbecue on a budget.It's just takes planning and ingenuity. Try it for some delicious flavors at low cost.