Are you guesting on Memorial Day or holding your own shindig?

If it’s the former, and you don’t have an assigned dish to bring, here’s a fresh idea:

Instead of a bottle of wine or a pan of brownies, how about a basket of freshly picked vegetables? Your hosts will have something to grill and enjoy after the party food is gone.

Melissa’s, purveyor of premium produce, has put together a barbecue gift basket of Anaheim chiles, Asian eggplant, red or yellow bell peppers, chayote squash, elephant garlic, fennel, cipolline or Maui onions, plantains and portobello mushrooms.

The idea is to provide better versions of standard grilling favorites, plus something new. (When was the last time you grilled fennel or plantains?)

A gift for your barbecue hosts. Photo courtesy Melissas.com.

 
The price is $64.99 on Melissas.com.
 
Send it as a Memorial Day gift for dear friends and family, or a thank-you gift to your Memorial Day hosts.

You can put your own basket together by going to the best produce market in town and picking out unusual versions of family favorites (Asian eggplant instead of conventional Italian eggplant, for example).