A regular question from carnivores: what can you eat for a vegan barbecue? Here's some of what:
| Vegetable kebabs | Button mushrooms, pieces of red pepper, sliced courgettes
and par-boiled shallots, tossed in olive oil and threaded onto skewers.
When cooked, serve in pitta stuffed with shredded lettuce tossed in lemon
juice. Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco.
Variations:
|
| Garlic bread | Slice baguette or small crusty rolls about 7/8 through,
stuff in plenty of margarine pre-mixed with crushed garlic (2-4 cloves),
seasoning, parsley and lemon juice. Smear on the outside of the bread then
wrap (perhaps double) in foil and cook for about 15 minutes, turning
frequently.
Variations:
|
| Foil-baked new potatoes | Prick small washed new potatoes (may be lightly boiled if desired) with a fork, add a few shallots and whole cloves of garlic, toss in olive oil, add sprigs of rosemary and seasoning, then double-wrap in foil (seal well) and place directly on the coals, turning frequently. Pre-boiled potatoes may cook in 20-30 minutes, others a little longer. Watch they don't burn! |
| Chargrilled vegetables | Baste sliced vegetables (pepper, courgette, aubergine etc.)
with oil/marinade and grill until starting to char a little. Serve on
crostini (grilled sliced baguette) with a lemon/basil/garlic/olive oil
dressing.
An unusual variation is to cook the vegetables "dry" - no basting; slice them thinly and test with a sharp knife. |
| Home-made burgers | Barbecue Tofu Burgers
'Classic' Burgers Marilyn Burgers Nutty Burgers Spicy Mexican Bean Burgers Tofu and Mushroom Burgers |
| Cheapskates and lazy-arses! | Buy suitable frozen burgers and sausages, fry some onions, whack 'em in baps/hot dog rolls - easy! |
Time to re-focus on that now great British summer institution, the barbecue. 3 out of the 4 recipes we had are new, so I reckon that suffices to qualify for this page! Quantities quoted serve 2, generously.
For drinks, we had the following:
Aperitif: Mojitos, so refreshing
and making use of the now profuse mint
For the early courses: ice-cold Manzanilla (dry sherry)
For the later courses: a big gutsy Australian shiraz
Grilled Asparagus with Japanese Flavours
Ideal starter - tasty, seasonal and not at all filling.
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
2 tsp miso
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp tamari/soya sauce
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Mix together the middle 4 ingredients to form a baste and brush generously over the asparagus. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and place at medium height above the coals. Turn occasionally, ensuring the spears don't burn.
Barbecued Tofu Kebabs
Something more suitable for the scoffing carnivores to scoff! Pre-soak the wooden skewers required for this recipe in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning.
1 pack (8-10oz/225-280g) smoked tofu,
pressed
½ quantity barbecue
sauce
1½ tbsp tahini
Cut the pressed tofu into a suitable number of even-sized cubes - I managed to get 36 out of my block. Mix together the barbecue sauce and tahini and toss through the tofu cubes.
Thread these onto 4 pre-soaked wooden skewers (see above) and grill at medium height to replace the asparagus, turning occasionally. Allow to brown a little and form a crust in places. The tofu remains meltingly soft beneath the firm spicy exterior.
Middle-Eastern Potatoes
Exotically-flavoured foil packets of new potatoes to place at the sides of the barbecue as soon as the coals are hot enough - the aroma released on opening is memorable!
10 smallish even-sized new potatoes
2 tomatoes, quartered
1 pickled/preserved lemon, cut into 8 and de-seeded
8 kalamata olives, halved and stoned
2 cloves garlic, sliced
dash cumin
seasoning
1½ tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Scrub the potatoes and parboil for 10 - 15 minutes, taking care not to fully cook them. Arrange on two foil squares large enough to wrap them in parcels and divide the remaining ingredients between the parcels. Wrap tightly to seal, then wrap each parcel in a second layer of foil.
Place towards the side of the barbecue to allow room to cook the asparagus and kebabs - they'll need 30 - 45 minutes in total. Serve in the packs, cutting the whole cooked potatoes to help them absorb the juices.
A perennial favourite, perfect to prepare in advance (unlike many vegan burgers, these can easily miss the freezer as they're quite firm enough). Cook on the lowest height as the coals lose their intense heat.