When the summer sky softens and the grill’s embers flicker, dinner anticipation builds — especially when vegetables are what’s over the coals, curled in smoke.

As their colorful outsides singe and their plump bodies slump, vegetables’ vibrant selves become substantial, rich and nuanced. Sugars caramelize, edges char, a whisper of smoke appears.

The grill can create satisfying vegetarian meals by sizzling out moisture and teasing out deep, dark flavors. And yet a plate of grilled vegetables does not a meal make.

Follow these recipes and apply their lessons to other dishes for plant-based mains that are filling, fun to eat and a friend to summer’s bounty — and to you.