EVERY HOME COOK has their own kitchen hacks, cheats and traditions, and we want to know yours.

Each week as part of our Kitchen Secrets series, we’ll be asking readers to share their cooking tips and go-to-dishes. From the secret to great roast potatoes to the best way to scramble an egg, we’ll have a new question every seven days.

This week, it’s barbecue season, so we’re asking…

What’s your go-to dish to bring to a barbecue?

Salads were a clear leader, and you guys had a lot of inspiration.

From the simple…

Pasta salad with sweet chilli and mayo sauce… fab

- Charlene Vaughan

Orange and halloumi salad, just dress it when you get there! And a cheesecake!

- Donna O’Shaughnessy

… to the slightly more complex:

Rocket salad with smoked bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, goats cheese and croutons.

- Debbie Phelan

Linda’s potato salad with a secret ingredient:

“Baby Potato boiled and cooled with cream cheese, mayonnaise, gherkins, spring onions, pepper and salt. Winner every time.

Secret ingredient is gherkin. No one knows it is there…”

- Linda Myers

This salsa covers a lot of bases:

“I always prepare a hearty salsa that goes with everything and is substantial enough for a vegetarian meal. It goes like this:

• 1 tin kidney beans rinsed and drained
• 1 sm. tin sweet corn rinsed and drained
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 1 chilli finely chopped
• 1 lg tomato finely chopped
• 2 avocadoes finely chopped
• Handful fresh chopped coriander
• Juice of 1 lime
• Glug of olive oil

Mix together, cover and chill.”

- Anne Denvir

Jez Timms Jez Timms

And we’re definitely trying this carrot and red onion slaw:

“My absolute go-to salad is a carrot and red onion salad. As an avid BBQ-er and host I have served this at every BBQ party I have thrown for the past 7 years.

My food processor does the majority of the work :-) I julienne my carrots and slice my onions in the food processor, only takes 4-5 mins and the dressing is olive oil, red wine vinegar with a splash of toasted sesame oil with a pinch of sea salt,sugar and pepper. A sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds adds a nice crunch and if your guests will tolerate it, some fresh coriander is a nice touch. An added bonus to this salad is that is it great as a leftover – carrots and onions are robust enough to stay a day or two in dressing and actually, it’s sometimes better the next day.”

- Jennifer Minogue

Here are two ways with BBQ pepper:

Roast peppers with tomato and garlic in olive oil. Served with crusty bread.

- Rita Lynch

BBQ pepper stuffed with bacon and grilled veggies.

- Danilo Fernandez

Surprisingly, not many of you chose meat. But these two approaches had our mouths watering:

“Lamb burgers with pitta bread and yoghurt.”

- Damien McClean

“A marinaded striploin of beef, cooked low and slow, and halloumi.”

- Loretta Stiletto

More Kitchen Secrets: What’s your life-saver when you need dinner in a hurry?>