Cooking tasty barbecue dishes for vegetarians

Yes, that’s right, vegetarians can enjoy barbecues too! If you are a meat eater with some vegetarian guests coming for a barbecue, it is very easy to prepare a tasty vegetarian meal. There are also some more challenging options for the vegetarian host or the fearless carnivore! The number one option for vegetarians is to cook up some store-bought veggie burgers or sausages. If it’s a ‘bring your own meat’ barbecue, this is probably what the vegetarians will bring. Now some people hate meat substitutes, but most vegetarians quite like them, and will be quite happy with a vegetarian sausage, particularly with a good seasoning and salad on a bun.

However, there are many other things you can cook for vegetarians that will be a bit more impressive, and most likely carnivores will like them too. Halloumi cheese is always popular and very easy to cook. This is a firm cheese that doesn’t melt when cooked, so you can slice or dice it and stick it on skewers, and cook on the grill until golden on the outside and soft on the inside. If cooking on skewers, you can alternate cubes of halloumi with cooked new potatoes.

Grilled vegetables are another good option, as they taste like ‘barbecue’. For something a little unusual, try brushing thick asparagus with olive oil and grilling for about 5 minutes, until golden brown in places. You can also easily roast eggplant or sweet potato slices (1-2 cm) or zucchini (cut in half lengthwise), after they have been covered with olive oil and seasoned. You can also grill whole aubergines on the barbecue, after having pierced them in several places with a fork. When they are soft you can remove them from the inside and spread them on some bread, or use them to make an aubergine dip.

Wrapping vegetables in aluminum foil prevents burning, so it’s helpful if the veggies tend to burn on the outside but are raw on the inside. However, for an authentic barbecue flavor, it’s a good idea to cook for a few minutes without foil at the end, until it looks like charcoal-grilled. This is a way to cook corn on the cob, an essential part of any barbecue for meat eaters and vegetarians.

Many other vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers, and onions, work well on a barbecue, but can be quite fiddly to work with. The classic option is to skewer vegetable pieces on skewers to make vegetable skewers. A quicker way is to use a barbecue ‘wok’ or broiler pan (try Lakeland), which you can place on top of the barbecue and keep all the veggies together. Then you can easily cook smaller veggies without dropping them on the barbecue, preserving the flavor of the barbecue. This is also a simple way to keep vegetarian food separate from meat.

A good side dish for all your guests is to spread a few slices of baguette or ciabatta with olive oil and dressing, and grill on both sides until golden brown. If you wrap a whole garlic bulb in foil and roast it until the cloves are soft, you can squeeze the roasted garlic from the cloves and spread it on the bread. Roasted garlic thus becomes much softer and sweeter.

For the really ambitious, why not try making your own veggie burgers? Then you can have full control over the ingredients and you will feel very satisfied with your creativity. There are many recipes for different types of veggie burgers, but you can usually use mashed beans or lentils as a base and add any type of cheese, chopped onions, nuts, herbs or spices for flavor, breadcrumbs to help do it a bit. . more solid egg and beaten to help bind it together. Then just grill! You may have to experiment to get a burger that doesn’t fall apart too easily; If you’re concerned, start by cooking it in foil or on a baking sheet and finish with a few minutes directly on the barbecue.