Add some sizzle to your summer

With Memorial Day just around the corner, charcoal and gas grills will be sizzling with hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwursts and steaks. Great grill marks and on-point wellness (or rareness) are my husband's specialty. But when I grill, I'm the expert at grilling vegetables and fruit. That's my forte.

Break out of your mold and try cooking vegetables and fruits on your grill. Personally, I love to grill corn. I cook the corn with the husks off, rub it with some butter and give it a healthy dose of Tabasco. Wrap it in foil, throw it on the grill and "Voila!" - some of the best tasting corn you'll have west of the Mississippi. Sometimes I'll make variations. Try butter and chili powder. Or butter with some lime zest. Yum-o!

Of course, I like grilling the standard vegetable fare as well - asparagus, zucchini and tomatoes. I just toss them with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. It's simple but great, as the natural taste of the food comes through. You can be as creative as you want and make vegetable kebabs! Add onions, mushrooms, squash, eggplant! The possibilities are endless.

Some grilling aficionados say that almost any fruit can also be grilled, and they taste delicious. I can only vouch for two (for now) - pineapples and cantaloupes. When you grill fruit, it caramelizes the sugars and turns everything a little bit sweeter and gives fruits a smokier background. It just kind of adds a little depth that you don't get unless you grill it. Pineapple, freshly grilled, is awesome. As for grilled cantaloupe? Drizzle it with honey and you've got the easiest, tastiest dessert - hands down.

So, feel free to let your imagination run wild. Have fun and experiment. Happy grillin'!