BY SOME POINT in the grilling season, a certain kind of fatigue can set in. One’s jar of that go-to shawarma spice mix has run dry, and neighbors no longer react with awe at the arrival of one’s trademark grilled watermelon salad.

Luckily, a new crop of summer cookbooks delivers elevated approaches to outdoor cooking, with plenty of inspiration to break out of that rut. In “Pig Beach BBQ Cookbook: Smoked, Grilled, Roasted, and Sauced” (Harvest), chefs Matt Abdoo and Shane McBride, the founders behind the Pig Beach restaurants in Brooklyn and Queens, N.Y., and West Palm Beach, Fla., share their own brand of modern, creative barbecue, inspired by both their years at some of New York’s most acclaimed restaurants and their hobbyist and competition barbecuing.

“Fire + Wine: 75 Smoke-Infused Recipes from the Grill with Perfect Wine Pairings” (Sasquatch Books) features another unlikely but fruitful combination: the Portland, Ore.-based husband-and-wife team of pitmaster Sean Martin and sommelier Mary Cressler. Their debut cookbook highlights earthy, elegant grilled and barbecued foods, and explores why wine belongs on the table with them. Where else are you going to get a straight answer on what kind of rosé to pair with skirt steak tacos?

For legendary Argentine chef Francis Mallmann, innovating outdoor cooking is second nature. His latest book, “Green Fire: Extraordinary Ways to Grill Fruits and Vegetables, from the Master of Live-Fire Cooking” (Artisan) explores and expands the possibilities for produce well beyond mere kebabs, from burying beets in smoky embers until they emerge charred and tender to searing summer beans on the plancha before topping them with a cool cucumber vinaigrette.

Here, a small sampling of these authors’ advice on how to refresh your grill game in the heat of summer:

Upgrade Your Burgers

Even the simplest patty can get real BBQ flavor with a swipe of creamy, tangy Pig Beach Burger Sauce. To make it, combine 6 tablespoons ketchup, 6 tablespoons mayonnaise, 6 tablespoons Pig Beach World Champion Mustard Sauce (or your favorite mustard BBQ sauce), 2 teaspoons chopped pickles and ½ teaspoon barbecue seasoning. Makes ¾ cup. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Cook Your Caprese

This classic summer salad deserves some time on the grill, too. Mr. Mallmann likes to char thick, oil-brushed wedges of tomato on the plancha to produce a gradation of texture and flavor—from burnt to ripe to sweet. If you like, you can grill halved plums for the salad, too.

Fire Up Your Salsa

To create a delicious condiment that works as a sauce for grilled foods or a dip for hungry guests, take a tip inspired by a recipe from Ms. Cressler and Mr. Martin: Roughly chop a few grill-scorched, peeled, seeded and finely chopped peppers, combine them in a food processor with your favorite salsa and pulse until puréed.

Smoke Your Steak

“This is a little more complicated than your standard weeknight grill…but the flavor and texture will be unlike that of any steak you’ve ever enjoyed,” write Mr. Abdoo and Mr. McBride. Start by lightly coating your steak with vegetable oil, then generously coat it with your favorite steak rub and set aside to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees, using cherry wood for smoke. Insert a temperature probe into the thickest part of the steak and smoke until the steak reaches 100 degrees. Let rest for 15 minutes while you preheat your grill to very high heat. Grill the smoked steak until it reaches 125 degrees, then let rest on a cutting board. The internal temperature will continue to rise to 130-135 degrees for a medium-rare steak.

Give Your Bird a Bath

Since bone-in chicken needs a good long time on the grill over indirect heat, first prep the protein with a 4-to-8-hour soak in salted buttermilk spiked with rosemary and garlic. “A savory rosemary bath…[serves] to both flavor and tenderize the meat,” write Ms. Cressler and Mr. Martin. After marinating, pat the chicken dry and season with a rub before grilling.

Char Your Carrots

For a simple and casual vegetable side that plays well with grilled meat, take a note from Mr. Mallmann: Thinly slice carrots lengthwise and then toss them onto an oiled plancha or griddle with a handful of carrot tops. (You can also char small hot or sweet peppers alongside the carrots.) Cook, turning once, until charred in patches, then sprinkle with thyme leaves and serve with cool yogurt and toasted pistachios.

Dress to Impress

“Pickled red onions are a wonderful addition to your pantry. They make a terrific garnish for all types of barbecue, are tasty on a sandwich or in a salad, and are a perfect addition to a charcuterie plate,” write Mr. Abdoo and Mr. McBride. Place 2 large red onions sliced crosswise into rings in a nonreactive heatproof container. Combine 1 cup water, 1/2 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons kosher salt and 1 tablespoon pickling spice in a nonreactive medium saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Strain the liquid over the onions, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Cover and store in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

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