Yes, that’s right, vegetarians can enjoy barbecues too! If you are a carnivore with some vegetarian guests coming to a barbecue, it is very easy to prepare some tasty vegetarian food. There are also some more challenging options for the vegetarian host or brave 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 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 nice relish and salad on a bun.
However, there are plenty of other things you can cook for vegetarians that will be a little more impressive, and chances are good that 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 it’s golden on the outside and soft on the inside. If cooking on skewers, you can alternate halloumi cubes with cooked new potatoes.
Grilled vegetables are another good option as they really do taste like ‘barbecue’. 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 grill aubergine or sweet potato slices (1-2 cm) or courgettes (cut in half 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 aubergine dip.
Wrapping the vegetables in foil prevents them from charring, so it’s helpful if the 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 a way of cooking corn on the cob, an essential part of any barbecue for carnivores and vegetarians.
Many other vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers, and onions, work well on a barbecue, but they can be quite messy to work with. The classic option is to thread pieces of vegetables on 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 an easy way to keep vegetarian food separate from meat.
A good side dish 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 the bread. Garlic roasted 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 a ton of recipes for different types of veggie burgers, but you can usually use mashed beans or lentils as a base and add any kind of cheese, chopped onions, nuts, herbs or spices for flavor, breadcrumbs to help 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.
