Yes, that’s right, vegetarians can enjoy barbecuing too! If you’re a meat eater with some vegetarian guests coming over for a barbecue, it’s very easy to whip up some tasty vegetarian food. There are also some more challenging options for the vegetarian host or the fearless carnivore! The number one option for vegetarians is to cook 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 like them, and will be very happy with a vegetarian sausage, particularly with a good seasoning and salad on a bun.
However, there are plenty of other things you can cook for vegetarians that will be a bit more impressive, and there’s a good chance 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 it, or cube it and stick it on skewers, and cook it on the barbecue until golden on the outside and soft on the inside. If you cook on skewers, you can alternate halloumi cubes with cooked new potatoes.
Grilled vegetables are another good option, as they really do taste ‘barbecued’. For something a little unusual, try brushing the thick asparagus with olive oil and grilling for about 5 minutes, until browned in places. You can also easily roast eggplant or sweet potato slices (1-2 cm) or zucchini (halved lengthwise), having bathed them in olive oil and seasonings. You can also grill whole eggplants on the barbecue, having pierced them in several places with a fork. When they are soft, you can remove the insides and spread them on some bread, or use them to make an eggplant dip.
Wrapping vegetables in aluminum foil prevents them from charring, so it’s helpful if vegetables tend to burn on the outside but are raw on the inside. However, for a true barbecue flavor, it’s a good idea to cook for a few minutes without foil at the end, until it resembles barbecue. This is one way to cook corn on the cob, an essential part of any barbecue for carnivores and vegetarians alike.
Many other vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers, and onions, work well on a barbecue, but can be quite tricky to work with. The classic option is to thread pieces of vegetables onto skewers to make vegetable kabobs. A quicker way is to use a barbecue ‘wok’ or grill (try Lakeland), which you can place on top of the barbecue and keep all the vegetable pieces together. Then you can easily cook smaller vegetables without them falling over on the barbecue, retaining that barbecue flavor. This is also a simple way to keep vegetarian food separate from meat.
A good accompaniment for all your guests is to brush a few slices of baguette or ciabatta with olive oil and seasonings, and grill on both sides until golden brown. If you wrap a whole garlic bulb in aluminum foil and roast it until the cloves are soft, you can squeeze the roasted garlic out of the cloves and spread it on your bread. Roasted garlic like this becomes much softer and sweeter.
For the more ambitious, why not try making your own veggie burgers? Then you will be able to have full control over the ingredients and you will feel very satisfied with your creativity. There are lots of 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 it out. be a little more solid, and beaten egg to help bind it. 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.
