Vegetarians and Vegans: Barbeque time

[mr steev]

Without trying to cause a stir though, a lot of veggie food doesn't work well on the BBQ.

True... but some work really well. And as you say, not all meat dishes are best cooked on a bbq either.
But to say veggies and bbq's don't go together (on a thread about veggie and vegan bbq's ) is bollocks.

 

[aqua]

.................

*wonders how much it would cost to move you to brum*

 

[tarannau]

*wonders how much it would cost to move you to brum*

If you can be arsed to cook a sodding beef wellington and do the whole Abigail's party routine Aqua, a BBQ should be no trouble.


Learn to skin and bone a chicken thigh, quick bit of marinating, and the BBQ is your oyster.

I was never too arsed about the things either tbh but, once you get away from the burgers and sausages, there are so many great things that just taste best on the BBQ. It's worth it for perfect sardines (and no smell indoors) alone.

 

[aqua]

hmmm maybe

I just don't get thrilled by them at all, so much work

 

[fractionMan]

I went to a biker barbie after saying before i was veggie..'No problem!' I was told-got a burger with ketchup in

 

[Dougal]

A bap with salad and piccalillie is all the needs of a vegan covered.

 

[pembrokestephen]

This question is specifically to all the veggies on here: what do you do when it's barbeque time? I will soon be obtaining a barbeque and an ex-pub table bench, and shall be inviting various folks around. BUT... we're vegetarian, and lots of our friends eat meat. So... things can get a bit awkward around barbeque time...

What do you do when
a) You host a barbeque
b) You get invited to a barbeque by people who eat meat
c) You actually go to someone else (who eats meat)'s barbeque?

a) 2 barbies, and nominate a carnivore to drive the fetid meat one
b) Normally enquire, and/or take something veggie
c) same as b.

 

[pembrokestephen]

3. Halloumi kebabs.

Are better than sex. Marinade chunks of halloumi, courgette, mushroom, pepper, tomato, etc in olive oil, lemon juice, s & p, parsley for a few hours. Get someone else to thread on a skewer cos it is a crap job. BBQ.

*slather*

 

[SubZeroCat]

"You don't make friends with salad!"

"You don't make friends with salad!"

"You don't make friends with salad!"

"You don't make friends with salad!"



I like beanburgers and I'm not a veggie

 

[tarannau]

hmmm maybe

I just don't get thrilled by them at all, so much work

Once you get good at boning things, it's bloody quick though. Just avoid using chicken breasts though - they're expensive and taste of old cardboard 90% of the time.

Chop some mint, crush a couple of dry chillis, squeeze half a lemon and add a pinch of saffron. Mix well with olive oil, salt and pepper - even blend it if you're feeling lazy. Pour over the chicken thighs. Stick in the fridge for a few hours. BBQ for 5 mins each side when you're ready. Easy - and better than anything you can cook indoors.

Much quicker than all pastry mullarkey...

 

[pembrokestephen]

I'm not sure if you are veggie or not but have to say even thoughs are your homemade ones and thus probably lovely, I have the most deepseated hatred of spicey bean burgers and know a few veggies who fel similar due to having to eat them at every pub as the 'veggie choice' for years..

My first barbie I made falafels. My second was onion bhajis - there's plenty of scope.

 

[tarannau]

I cooked felafels at a BBQ a fair old while ago, but I did have to wait until the coals were almost extinguished before they really cooked well - the flame got too hot otherwise. Which kinda defeated the object for me. Didn't you find it would have be just as easy to cook them indoors?

This is not a trick question by the way. I'm just not sure it's the best way.

I'm equally impressed with the Bhajees as well. How thge hell did you replicate the deep fried experience on a BBQ? I've just got visions of a vagurly charred onion thing stickng to the grill, but I doff my hat to your skills.

 

[pembrokestephen]

Vegetarian and barbeque just don't really go together. The vegetable/cheese kebabs are ok, but other than that you are resorting to things that don't really cook well on the medium.

Pah.

 

[tarannau]

Enough Pah'ing fella - I rather know how you cooked felafels (and especially bhajees) well on the BBQ?

The more I think about it, the more I had to try an improvise to keep things going that year - the felafels I cooked on the BBQ weren't great to be honest. Even with the heat down low they started to char quickly - I remember thinking that it was a lot easier to keep them moist and get a better 'crust' frying.

 

[vipper]

Not any good for vegans, but if you stick some garlic and rosemary into a box of camembert, and put the box (a wooden one, not plastic!) in the embers until the box starts to char and the cheese is melted... eat with fresh bread mmmmm

Now that is a fantastic idea.

<eyes next door's shed with a view to getting a pile of embers>

 

[pembrokestephen]

Enough Pah'ing fella - I rather know how you cooked felafels (and especially bhajees) well on the BBQ?

The more I think about it, the more I had to try an improvise to keep things going that year - the felafels I cooked on the BBQ weren't great to be honest. Even with the heat down low they started to char quickly - I remember thinking that it was a lot easier to keep them moist and get a better 'crust' frying.

I didn't actually *cook* them on the BBQ - I deep-fried them (per normal), but just a bit lighter than usual, then finished them off on the barbeque. Same for the bhajis.

Damn, it's hard enough getting falafels to behave in the deep fryer - I'd imagine barbequeing them would be a nightmare...

 

[hiccup]

I'll tell you what's nice: roast some corn on the cob on the bbq. Mix a few spoonfuls of salt with a few generous pinches of chilli powder on a plate. Cut a lemon in half. Dip in the salt mixture. Rub on the cooked corn - well tasty. All salty and spicy and lemony and sweet. Vegan too. Tried it last summer, after reading the recipe on a similar thread on urban.

 

[Idaho]

I didn't actually *cook* them on the BBQ - I deep-fried them (per normal), but just a bit lighter than usual, then finished them off on the barbeque. Same for the bhajis.

Damn, it's hard enough getting falafels to behave in the deep fryer - I'd imagine barbequeing them would be a nightmare...

Now it's my turn to pah! Why go to all that trouble setting up a barbeque just to warm up pre-fried food

 

[pembrokestephen]

Now it's my turn to pah! Why go to all that trouble setting up a barbeque just to warm up pre-fried food

Ah well, I also used it to cook veggie kebabs, bake flatbreads, do some beanburgers for the less enterprising among us, and cook bananas with bits of chocolate embedded in them, in foil.

 

[mr steev]

I'll tell you what's nice: roast some corn on the cob on the bbq. Mix a few spoonfuls of salt with a few generous pinches of chilli powder on a plate. Cut a lemon in half. Dip in the salt mixture. Rub on the cooked corn - well tasty. All salty and spicy and lemony and sweet. Vegan too. Tried it last summer, after reading the recipe on a similar thread on urban.

A similar thing: I drizzle chilli-infused olive oil over them

 

[5T3R30TYP3]

I'll tell you what's nice: roast some corn on the cob on the bbq. Mix a few spoonfuls of salt with a few generous pinches of chilli powder on a plate. Cut a lemon in half. Dip in the salt mixture. Rub on the cooked corn - well tasty. All salty and spicy and lemony and sweet. Vegan too. Tried it last summer, after reading the recipe on a similar thread on urban.

Arrghhhh now my mouth is watering and won't stop

 

[tarannau]

Now it's my turn to pah! Why go to all that trouble setting up a barbeque just to warm up pre-fried food

To be fair, even an omnivore like me uses the same method to heat up ribs and sometimes sausages.

Still a bit annoying mind though. Short of the veg kebabs (if they've cheese), there's nothing at all on PembrokeStephen's list that couldn't arguably be better cooked indoors on a normal domestic stove.

It's not a BBQ as we know it, but there's still something good about eating outdoors over a bit of primal fire.

 

[pembrokestephen]

To be fair, even an omnivore like me uses the same method to heat up ribs and sometimes sausages.

Still a bit annoying mind though. Short of the veg kebabs (if they've cheese), there's nothing at all on PembrokeStephen's list that couldn't arguably be better cooked indoors on a normal domestic stove.

It's not a BBQ as we know it, but there's still something good about eating outdoors over a bit of primal fire.

One could quite reasonably argue the same thing about steaks, beefburgers, kebabs and chicken legs, too, though? In fact, from what I gather, it's generally recommended to cook off chicken legs in the oven first, to make sure the meat's actually properly cooked...

I'll accept that one big feature of barbeques is that it's the fat from the meat dripping onto coals and making smoke that contributes to the flavour, etc., and we're never quite going to get the same thing with a veggie barbeque, but in most cases it's a question of a veggie/meat bbq, so the purpose of the veggie bit is just to allow non-meat-eaters to participate in the whole barbeque experience. I choose to try and make a culinarily exciting experience (ie., no quornburgers and boring old lumps of veg on a wooden skewer), to give the veggies some kind of participation in the whole barbeque thing.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Cut through the skin of a banana with a sharp knife and put a few squares of (vegan) chocolate in. Wrap with silver foil and shove on the barbie.

If you are not vegan, eat with greek yogurt or similar.

Bloody gorgeous.

In answer to the original questions. I am vegetarian and often host barbies. I provide a separate barbecue for the meat, which is supplied by my guests, since they all know I am veggie. When I go to someone else's barbecue, I usually just take some linda mccartney sausages or a veggie cutlet, and some tin foil, in case these are not provided. Although neither of these particularly benefit from being cooked outside, at least I get to eat something in the bread!

 

[tarannau]

One could quite reasonably argue the same thing about steaks, beefburgers, kebabs and chicken legs, too, though? In fact, from what I gather, it's generally recommended to cook off chicken legs in the oven first, to make sure the meat's actually properly cooked...
e thing.

That's not true really though. Steaks are better cooked on a barbecue than pretty much anywhere - the high charcoal heats sear the meat and cook the flavour in, much more efficiently than a domestic grill can manage. Same with beefburgers and kebabs to be honest - it's the smokiness and reason why you can get a better fresh burger from a charcoal grill down the kebab shop than MacD's, and why Burger King 'flames' its burgers.

And - whatever supermarkets sell in their BBQ packs - most decent cooks wouldn't bother with chicken legs on a BBQ. Boned chicken thighs all the way, with the skin charring and taking on that gorgeous BBQ flavour.

I'm not denying anyone the right to eat outside -for gawd's sake we should all do it more - more that I'm genuinely curious what vegetarian and vegan specialities really gain on the BBQ. Every year I get a little more confident with BBQs - done right, you can get some flavours (particularly on meat) that you simply can't get inside, well not without ten tons of smoke and a stinking kitchen.

 

[pembrokestephen]

I'm not denying anyone the right to eat outside -for gawd's sake we should all do it more - more that I'm genuinely curious what vegetarian and vegan specialities really gain on the BBQ. Every year I get a little more confident with BBQs - done right, you can get some flavours (particularly on meat) that you simply can't get inside, well not without ten tons of smoke and a stinking kitchen.

Well, in short, I think very little is gained from putting veggie stuff on a BBQ. But if we're going to be a world of non-veggies and veggies, it's nice for the veggies to be able to join in, even if that just means "playing barbecues" and burning our perfectly-easily-grilled Linda McCartney sosses over charcoal instead...

 

[Guineveretoo]

Well, in short, I think very little is gained from putting veggie stuff on a BBQ. But if we're going to be a world of non-veggies and veggies, it's nice for the veggies to be able to join in, even if that just means "playing barbecues" and burning our perfectly-easily-grilled Linda McCartney sosses over charcoal instead...

Barbecued veggies on a skewer are fabulous, and can't be reproduced indoors. I do shallots, courgetttes, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, peppers, aubergines.... whatever I can think of, really. I coat them in olive oil and herbs by putting them in a bowl and rolling them around in it with my hands. Leave them to stand for a while to let the oil soak in a bit, and then whack them on a hot barbie.

I don't know why everyone doesn't do this!