This corn's a-popping

There's a snap, crackle and pop to grilling corn on the cob, according to American barbecue guru Steven Raichlen.

Known for his 1998 book The Barbecue! Bible and TV shows, Raichlen has just published his 30th barbecue book, How to Grill Vegetables: The New Bible for Barbecuing Vegetables Over Live Fire (Workman/thomas Allen, $33.95).

It contains 115 recipes, ranging from basic to fancy ways of making fresh vegetables taste better than ever.

Raichlen writes that grilling vegetables is no different than grilling a chicken. Although The Barbecue! Bible is probably his most famous title, he also made his mark with Beer-can Chicken and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill.

The equipment chapter in How to Grill Vegetables is large and emphasizes that the charcoal grill is more versatile than the gas grill.

A cast-iron griddle is “indispensable” when grilling vegetables, Raichlen writes.

Some recipes in the book include meat or seafood. Raichlen calls this recipe Italian-inspired; it's one of five for corn.