Grill baskets are the move

You need a grill basket, a perforated griddle pan, or some skewers.

The grates on a gas grill are designed for big stuff like steaks and chicken breasts. Vegetables – especially sliced zucchini, bell pepper strips, or cherry tomatoes – will find every gap and turn into an offering to the fire gods below. You can engineer around it by cutting things into huge planks (eggplant halves, portobellos) and flipping carefully, but that limits what you can cook.

A cheap wire grill basket ($10–15) solves this. Toss veggies with oil and salt, throw them in the basket, shake occasionally. You get nice char without losing a single piece. A perforated nonstick griddle pan works too – more surface area, easier to flip – but takes up room on the grill. Skewers are great for mushrooms, peppers, and onions, but a pain for leafy things or small cubes.

If you don’t want to buy anything, wrap smaller veggies in foil packets with herbs and butter. You won’t get those sexy grill marks, but they’ll cook through and taste great. You lose the smoke flavor though, which is the whole point of grilling.

Grill baskets are $15. Future You will be glad you grabbed one.