Every barbecue sits somewhere on a spectrum.

At one end, sausages and a bag of rolls. At the other, something you have been marinating since Thursday. Both are legitimate. The trick is knowing which one you are actually in the mood for before the guests arrive.

This is a pick-and-mix barbecue menu rather than a fixed one. Take a main, add a vegetarian option, choose a couple of side dishes and finish with a dessert you made this morning. Build up or down depending on the day.

Mains: simple

Good sausages, decent burgers, chicken thighs in a jar of marinade. Thighs are the smart choice here because they forgive the moment you get distracted by conversation, which you will. Nothing on this list needs a plan.

Mains: posh

This is where you earn the apron. Whole butterflied leg of lamb, slow over indirect heat and rested properly. Beef short ribs cooked long enough that the meat gives way. A side of salmon on a cedar plank. Spatchcocked chicken under a brick, skin blistered and flat. None of it is difficult. All of it takes time, which is really the only ingredient that separates simple from posh.

Vegetarian

The vegetarian option should not be an afterthought balanced on the edge of the grill. Halloumi and paneer both take fire beautifully. Whole cauliflower, steamed then charred and painted with spiced butter, is a genuine centrepiece. Aubergines cooked until they collapse, then dressed with tahini. Corn, of course, rolled in anything you like.

Sides

Two or three is plenty. One creamy, one sharp, one carb. A slaw with real acidity does more work than any other dish on the table, and both potato salad and a grain salad improve while they sit, which makes them your friend.

Desserts

Make it ahead. Nobody wants to be assembling pudding over hot coals. Anything that lives in the fridge until the moment it is needed will serve you well, and grilled fruit with ice cream is the one exception worth firing the grill back up for.