Easy Vegetarian BBQ Food Recipes

We are near to the end of the BBQ season here in the UK and in this last instalment we will be looking at vegetables. Lots of vegetarians I know buy those 'fake' meat products made to look like burgers or sausages but I don’t really get it. Vegetables by themselves offer a varied and hearty meal and taste incredible when cooked properly on a BBQ.

Whole vegetables keep all there flavour while picking up the smokiness of the BBQ creating a whole new way of experiencing your favourite veggies. The biggest issue (as with most food that you BBQ) is overcooking or even burning the vegetables, causing that sweet caramelisation to turn into a bitter, acrid taste. The trick is the let a little of that “charring” happen for that classic BBQ flavour. I am going to show you how to cook perfect veggies for you and your friends. I chose an array of veggies which I think suit BBQ cooking extremely well. My inspiration has come from trial and error (I had disastrous results when trying to cook whole artichoke once!), and of course from watching and learning from other people. Marinating veggies is quick and easy, and the beauty is you can also use the marinade as a dressing. Grilled Greek Style Halloumi  Halloumi is a cheese just aching to be put on the BBQ

• 250g Halloumi (1 regular packet)
• 70g Tomato puree
• 2 Cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 pinch Dried oregano (or 1 tsp if fresh finely chopped)
• 2 Tbsp Olive oil

No salt is required in this recipe as the cheese is salty enough! Chunk up the halloumi (Tip: sometimes the cheese is “folded” so pull apart before chopping), we want large pieces approximately 1 cm thick. Add all other ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly, then add the halloumi and coat in the mixture.

Leave this marinating for as long as you can, overnight is preferable. The chunks go directly onto the BBQ and they cook fast. You can tell the cheese is ready to turn because it should come easily away from the grill. Once slightly charred on both sides it is ready. Serve with salad in pitta bread. You can add a bit of the marinade in there too :) Veggie Skewers For the marinade:

• 3 Lemons (juice of)
• 2 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 Tsp Olive oil
• 1 Sprig of thyme
• 1 Sprig of rosemary
• 1 Pinch of Salt
• 1 Pinch of pepper

The vegetables:

• 1 Courgette (zucchini)
• 1 Medium onion (red or white)
• 1 Bell pepper (any colour you like!)

Mix the marinade ingredients together thoroughly. You may think it smells too “lemony” but trust me it will taste fantastic! Dice the vegetables into roughly the same size pieces about 2 ½ cm or 1 inch square.

Marinate the veggies for at least an hour. After this time skewer the veggies, and get them straight on the BBQ. Keep them moving on the BBQ to stop any burning, they shouldn’t take more than 10 mins to cook depending how hot your BBQ is. Once done toss them back into the marinade and serve. Romano Pepper with Goats Cheese I love this as it is so simple and tastes delicious! The long thin slightly sweet pepper works perfectly with the creamy sharpness goat’s cheese.

• 1 Romano Pepper
• 50g Goats cheese

Slice the Romano pepper length ways into 2 pieces and remove the seeds and their membrane. Grill each side on the BBQ for approximately 5 mins until soft and some blackening has occurred. Remove and place skin side down adding the goats cheese to each cavity and replace onto the BBQ until the cheese starts to melt. All it needs is a twist of black pepper then serve immediately.

Super Simple Veggie Goodness!

Corn Sounds easy right? Wrong, as so many people I have met have messed it up and I have a fool proof method for you. It’s simple, buy ears of corn with the outer leaves still on... Throw them with reckless abandon, and watch them blacken. Your friends will think your crazy as some of the tips of the leaves might ignite. However, once the whole ear of corn has gone black, your friends will change their minds about your methods as you carefully remove the leaves to reveal perfectly cooked golden, juicy corn within! Serve it how you like it, for me that means a good knob of butter. Leeks I recently watched the latest series from Raymond Blanc, he did the same thing with a whole leek. You let it blacken all over and when liquid spits from the open leaf end remove. Strip the burned leaves off and you have leak steamed in it’s own juice with a wonderful smoky taste. Well worth doing, thank you Raymond! Veggie “Burger” You will find lots of recipes for veggie burgers which will fall to pieces on contact with the BBQ. Not good. Fortunately nature has provided one already, the Portobello mushroom. Simply grill one of these giant mushrooms on the BBQ. Serve as you would a burger. (Tip: This goes amazing well topped with a soft French cheese such as Brie or Camembert!)

A veggie feast!

So there you have it a compete veggie BBQ, healthy nutritious and filling. It won’t break the bank either. All of these recipes are also great as accompaniments to a meat based BBQ too!   Did you try any of these? How did you like them? Have you got a great veggie BBQ tip?