Are you a vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or just don't feel like eating meat? Don't worry, only today is barbecue day with family and friends, and you're going to have to answer the age-old question: "What are you going to eat then? It's high time to turn conventional wisdom on its head and show all meat-eaters that you can also enjoy a vegetarian barbecue. Here's a demonstration with 4 typical BBQ dishes that will give you the impression of eating (almost) all the same thing!
1 - The potato in its field dress
After having been thoroughly cleaned, brushed and rinsed with water, the potatoes are cooked with their skins on, wrapped in aluminum foil, right on the barbecue coals. This gives the potato a smoky flavour and a slightly smoky texture. Allow around 30 min cooking time before removing from the coals, mashing, halving, hollowing out and garnishing with a dab of salted butter, olive oil, crème fraiche and chives.
As always, everyone interprets and revisits the recipe in their own way. For our part, we've replaced the potatoes with sweet potatoes stuffed with cheese. Discover our recipe for sweet potatoes en papillote and cancoillotte.
In the vegan version, sweet potatoes can be topped with grated, smoked or herbed faux-mage and mixed with a little vegetable cream for a smooth result. They can also be garnished with a few slices of vegetable mozzarella made from rice.
2 - Ribs
This popular American-style BBQis always a big hit. The good news is that we've found a recipe for a vegetarian version of ribs, and the resemblance to meat could fool even the most ardent barbak enthusiast. It's made from seitan, a vegetable substitute for wheat flour, rich in protein and with a texture similar to that of meat. This comprehensive recipe suggests that you make the dish from A to Z, i.e. by making your own seitan, but you can also find it in organic stores. There are even special varieties for grilling, thicker and sold vacuum-packed like a real butcher's cut: you'd get lost!
As with pork ribs, it's all about the marinade! Whether you follow the recipe to the letter, or already have your own for the meat version, you can use it to coat the seitan. Discover our recipe for 5-spice pork ribs. In any case, the more the ribs are marinated, the better. Ideally, you should prepare them the day before and leave them to rest overnight.
3 - The hamburger
Easy to prepare, convivial and practical when you're having lots of people over for a BBQ. Once you've prepared the basic ingredients for your burgers - tomato slices, salad leaves, fried onions, slices of grilled or marinated vegetables, etc. - all that's missing is the grilled steak. And when it comes to plant-based substitutes, there's something for everyone: soy, wheat, lentil, seitan, lupin, spiced or herb steaks: you're spoilt for choice...
Here are a few original burger ideas for meat lovers, which can also be adapted to a vegetarian version by replacing the meat with a veggie steak:
You'll see, once they're on the grill, you won't even be able to tell the difference between meat and vegetable steaks.
4 - Sausages, merguez, chipolatas
Once again, vegetable products are the perfect choice. They come in all shapes and sizes: spicy, smoked, merguez... They are undoubtedly the simplest products to cook, since they require no preparation whatsoever, whether meat-based or not. All you have to do is grill them - although the vegetable versions are a little more fragile and require a little less cooking time - before slipping them into bread and accompanying them with a little mustard, ketchup or mayonnaise!
If you'd like to smoke your sausages in the Kokko to give them a little extra flavour, check out our Kokko smoking instructions. In this case, opt for sausages with a fairly neutral taste: plain Toulouse sausages or chipolatas on the meat side, plain soy or oat sausages on the vegetable side, so that the smoke perfumes the meat.
From now on, there's no reason why you can't get together for a BBQ party, and why not a lovely winter evening winter evening around the Kokko !
