Summer's the time to veg out at the barbecue
Tis the season of barbecues, a time when people traditionally load up on sausages, red meat and chicken to cook over the hot coals. With that in mind, it might seem as though a barbecue is the last place that you will find good vegetarian or vegan food, but you'd be wrong.
Sure, there are prepared and frozen vegetarian faux 'meats' that can replace chicken breasts or sausages, but the joy in barbecuing is that it is perfect for vegetables too.
If you're a new vegetarian or vegan, you might not realise how veggie-friendly barbecues can be, or, if you're holding a barbecue and expecting some guests who don't eat meat, you might be panicking about what to serve them.
Thankfully, there are lots of veggie (and gluten-free) options to be cooked at a barbecue, though it's advisable that you cook non-meat products in a separate area to the meat.
A par-boiled potato wrapped in foil, for example, will cook nicely on a barbecue, and can be topped with veggie chilli, soy cheese or baked beans, and served with lots of fresh salad.
You can roast whole peppers, tomatoes and vegetable slices, and serve with hummus and pitta bread (you can even toast the pitta on the barbecue). Homemade bean burgers (I will have a recipe for one in the coming weeks) are also a big hit at barbecues.
Some of the most fun things to cook on a barbecue are vegetable skewers -- they're so colourful and nutritious, and taste great with rice or a baked potato. Here's a recipe for vegetable and tofu skewers that are lightly marinated in a sweet sauce.
A very kind Adventures in Food reader recently sent me a copy of Vegan: Over 90 Mouthwatering Recipes For All Occasions by Tony Weston and Yvonne Bishop, and this is an adaptation of a recipe I found inside this great book.
If, like me, you are an apartment dweller without a garden, rest assured these cook wonderfully in the oven too.
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Barbecued Vegetable and Tofu Skewers
Serves 4
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1 tbsp tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 pineapple rings, cut into chunks
8 mango chunks
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 green pepper, cut into chunks
1 yellow pepper, cut into chunks
125g tofu, cubed
1 courgette, cut into rounds
1 sweetcorn cob, cooked and sliced into eight rounds
1 Put eight wooden satay or kebab sticks in cold water to soak for at least 20 minutes, and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees or Gas Mark 4.
2 Cut your vegetables, fruit and tofu. In a large bowl, mix the lime juice, molasses, tamari (or soy) sauce, sweet chilli sauce and oil together. Add your fruit and vegetables and stir until well coated with the marinade.
3 Thread the chunks on to the soaked kebab sticks (this can get a bit messy, so be warned), alternating the ingredients so the kebabs look bright and have a mix of texture and colour.
4 Grill or barbecue until browned, or alternatively place on a baking sheet and cook for around 30-35 minutes.
5 Serve with rice, salad or baked potatoes and a dipping sauce of your choice.
Irish Independent
