This blog post is also available in German.
This is a collaboration with Weber Grill Schweiz – sponsored blog post
Vegan BBQ? Seriously? Isn`t this extremely tedious and pretty boring as well, as there`s almost nothing you can eat? Before I became vegan this probably would have been my reaction if being invited to a vegan grill party. Of course today I know better, but still there are people out there who can`t imagine this. In collaboration with Weber Grill Schweiz and as part of the campaign lifeofgrill, I would like to show you how to create some incredible delicious and easy dishes that are perfect for a vegan barbecue. And since there is a garden on free disposal at our new place, there`s nothing stopping us from throwing awesome grill parties.
Which dishes I came up with for you guys? There are oriental stuffed pointed peppers, tofu skewers marinated in a cilantro lime chimichurri, baked sweet potatoes on the grill with vegan tzatziki and of course we couldn`t miss out on the most classical menu ever, namely grilled veggies, served with fresh aioli. A basil foccacia and different salads as side dishes (these will be featured in a separate post). The first one can actually be prepared super easy by using the premium pizza stone from Weber Grill Schweiz. Before we dive into the recipes themselves let me share some general tips, which can come in handy when holding a vegan barbecue.
Being a reader of my blog, you might already know how important sustainability is to me. Concerning this matter there are also a few small things to consider when grilling. One for example is to really not use single-use grills. It`s kind of obvious though! Second on my personal opinion there`s nothing more sustainable than an electric grill. This is why we went for the Weber Grill Pulse 2000 electric grill with cart.
If you are wondering why not to use charcoal or gas grills? The first sort of grills needs charcoal, as the name already suggests. The origin of charcoal is quite vague a lot of times and it`s not uncommon for the charcoal to be obtained from tropical regions or illegal cutting of timber, for example in Africa. As my husband is African I kind of have first-hand knowledge of this issue, which is a tremendous problem. In case you still don`t want to quit grilling with charcoal or you already own a grill that needs that very material to work properly, I would highly recommend you to use these briquettes from Weber Grill. 100% natural resource waste (wood chips) are used for their production and they don`t contain any additive chemicals.
In case of using a grill with gas, you should just consider the fact that the gas you are going to use is not renewable. These are the reasons I would go for an electric grill any time again. Besides that handling the Weber Grill Pulse 2000 electric grill is super easy and the digital heat controll makes your barbecue feast a success at any given time. The heat controll feature is also pretty neat if you want to bake a pizza or bread on the grill.
Enough talk about sustainability, let`s talk about grilling now! Which ingredients are suitable for a vegan barbecue? Here`s a small list of things you can chose from:
- any sort of veggies – there is a big variety, just try to use seasonal and local organic veggies (if possible)
- tofu
- tempeh
- seitan
- falafel
- Quorn
- vegan burger patties: made of sweet potato, black beans, Quorn or any other vegan patty
- vegan sausages and/or any other vegan meat substitute
- vegan grill cheese
These are just a few recommendations to give you a small impression of all the existing possibilities. Basically I definitely like vegan meat substitutes like grill cheese or tofu sausages for barbecue, but this time I took a pass on them. In this blog post I want to show you how to grill vegan in a simple way and this is why I didn`t go for these so called fancy vegan products. As here in Switzerland in can actually get quite hard to find some of these products. Not every supermarket has them and you might get forced to visit special stores to find those very ingredients. The ones I chose for you today can be find in every supermarket. If this is not the case you can also replace them by other products without any problem at all, like potatoes instead of sweet potatoes, regular tofu instead of the smoked one, etc.
We almost made it, just a few tips remaining:
- In case you are going for tofu, I would highly recommend marinating the tofu over night, as it`s way more flavorful afterwards.
- Pay attention to chose an oil for marinating or basting your veggies, that has a high smoking point. Like canola oil, sunflower oil or avocado oil for example.
- You might read the suggestion to baste your potatoes or sweet potatoes with oil before wrapping them in foil. Personally I would not recommend you to do that, as you will get a rather mushy result. In case you have parchment paper, banana or corn leaves at home, think about using these for wrapping instead of foil. These options are way better for the environment. Sadly I didn`t have any of these at home so I had to go for the foil.
Now it`s time to dive into the recipes.
Read you soon
Sarah
Roasted Veggies with vegan Aioli
Ingredients
Roasted Veggies
- 1 eggplant organic
- 2 sweet corns organic
- 1 green zucchini organic
- 1 yellow zucchini organic
- 2 avocados organic
- 350 g mini bell peppers organic
- 50 ml canola oil organic
Aioli
- 3-4 garlic cloves organic
- 100 ml olive oil organic
- 1 tbsp lemon juice organic
- a dash of white pepper organic
- a dash of salt organic
- 3 tbsp aquafaba
- 3 tbsp vegan mayonnaise optional
Instructions
Aioli
- peel garlic cloves and chop them very finely.
- add all the ingredients into a kitchen machine (excepts the olive oil and mayonnaise). Switch on the kitchen machine and mix all the ingredients at medium speed. Slowly start adding the olive oil and mix until your aioli is getting thick.
- if the garlic taste is too strong for you, try adding vegan mayonnaise, it will help reducing the garlic flavor.
Roasted Veggies
- rinse off all the veggies (except avocado) and pat dry.
- cut eggplant and zucchinis into strips. Half sweet corn and avocado. Also remove the avoda core.
- baste the veggies with canola oil and put them onto the grill. Roast until soft whilst turning them from time to time.
Baked Sweet Potato with vegan Tzatziki
Ingredients
Baked Sweet Potatoes
- 4 sweet potatoes organic
- tin foil, parchment paper, corn or banana leaves
vegan Tzatziki
- 500 g soy yogurt
- 1/2 cucumber organic
- 2 garlic cloves organic
- a dash of white pepper organic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 lemon, juiced organic
Instructions
Baked Sweet Potatoes
- rinse off sweet potatoes, pat dry and wrap them in tin foil or any other wrapping material suggested above.
- put sweet potatoes on preheated grill, close grill and bake them for 50 up to 70 minutes. They are ready if you can easiliy pierce them with a fork or knive
vegan Tzatziki
- rinse off cucumber, peel and grate it finely. Press out the remaining liquid from the grated cucumber.
- mix together all the ingredients. Pour tzatziki in a closable jar and store in the fridge up until it`s serving time.
Tofu Skewers Marinated in a Cilantro Lime Chimichurri
Ingredients
Tofu Skewers
- 400 g smoked tofu organic
- 4 wooden skewers
Cilantro Lime Chimichurri
- 1 bunch of cilantro organic
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp dried thyme organic
- 1 tbsp dried oregano organic
- 3 tbsp canola oil organic
- 1 garlic clove organic
- 1 dried red chili
- a dash of white pepper organic
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Cilantro Lime Chimichurri
- rinse off cilantro and chop it very finely.
- peel garlic clove and chop it very finely.
- chop the dried chili very finely.
- put all the ingredients into a mortar and mix until you got a paste.
Tofu Skewers
- cut tofu into chunky big pieces, put them into an airtight container and douse with the chimichurri until all the pieces are covered in the marinade. Close the container and store in the fridge over night to allow the tofu to absorb the marinade.
- soak your wooden skewers in tap water for several minutes before you start making the skewers. Line up several tofu pieces on every skewer.
- put skewers onto the grill for approximately 30 minutes and don`t forget to turn them from time to time. You can serve the remaining chimichurri marinade as a dip for the skewers.
Stuffed Bell Peppers Oriental Style
Ingredients
Stuffed Oriental Bell Peppers
- 170 g couscous
- 1/2 cube bouillon organic
- 500 ml water
- 1 scallion organic
- 1 tomato organic
- a dash of cumin organic
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 lemon, juiced organic
- 2 tsp sambal oelek or harissa
- a dash of salt
- a dash of pepper organic
- 1 tsp kofta kabob spice
- 4 bell peppers, pointed
Instructions
- pour water into a pan, add bouillon cube and bring to a boil. Prepare couscous in a soup plate or bowl and as soon as the water starts boiling pour it over the couscous. Cover the plate/bowl and let soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove lid and let cool down at room temperature.
- rinse off scallions and slice them.
- rinse off tomato and cut into small pieces.
- add all the ingredients (except the pointed peppers) to the couscous and mix.
- rinse off pointed bell peppers, pat dry, cut them in half and remove the seeds. Fill the peppers with the couscous mixture.
- put on the grill immediately for 20 minutes.