Summer is synonymous with grilling. The only problem? For many, grilling immediately calls to mind hot dogs and hamburgers, and vegans can be left holding a sad, frozen veggie burger and feeling like they’re missing out on all the tasty fun. The good news is that most people are ready and willing for that to change as the vegan diet grows more and more mainstream. Even omnivores are excited to see (and taste! what prospects vegan grilling hold — and we’re ready to share them.
Best Homemade Veggie Burgers
Burgers are a staple of barbecues, and vegans need not feel left out. Veggie burgers are more than ready to become the star of your barbecue; after all, in 2015, GQ named a veggie burger as the best burger in the U.S., and the newest veggie burgers from Beyond Meat sold out in less than an hour at the product launch.
If you want to try your hand at making your own homemade veggie burgers, we have a few ideas:
- These sun-dried tomato and lentil burgers are both vegan and gluten-free, and they’re full of flavorful ingredients like sweet potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, lentils, soy sauce, and garlic.
- This green pea burger offers a completely different flavor profile, with a combination of green peas, green bell pepper, spinach, and spices.
- If simple is what you’re looking for, a portobello mushroom cap, marinated in your favorite marinade or simply seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, can be a great burger stand-in.
Best Mock Meats
Mock meats are an excellent choice for a quick vegan barbecue main. All you need to do is choose the mock meat or vegan protein you like and get it ready for the grill.
3 Steps to Grill Tempeh to Perfection
This guide to grilled tempeh lays out the ideal steps for grilling tempeh, in other words: pre-cook, marinate, and grill. The pre-cooking step is essential for softening the naturally chewy texture of tempeh and allows the marinade to penetrate the tempeh more thoroughly, making it even more flavorful. We’ve included one marinade option here, but you can marinate your tempeh with whatever flavors you like best.
Grilling Tofu: It’s All About the Marinade
Once you’ve selected the right tofu for grilling (hint: it’s not silken), grilling tofu is all about the marinade: first, prepping the tofu to soak up as much as possible by drying it well, and next, choosing a marinade that’s flavorful. This guide to grilling tofu will ensure that you’ve covered all of these steps, plus a few others to make your grilled tofu experience as delicious as possible.
Choosing the Best Store-Bought Mock Meats
If you just want something easy that you can throw on the grill, you’re in luck. The variety in mock meats has only grown wider in recent years, and there are a few store-bought mock meats that you can feel good about serving.
- For mock dogs, we love SoyBoy Not Dogs, which have a relatively short ingredients list including organic soy and excluding wheat. As the package says, “no nitrates and nothing phony.” If you want to peruse even more choices, here’s an excellent guide to some tasty veggie dogs.
- For veggie burgers, we still love the classic Amy’s California veggie burger, made with organic vegetables. Amy’s even makes a gluten-free version of the veggie burger, so everyone can partake.
Top 10 Vegan Grilling Veggie Marinades
Sometimes all you need for a successful vegan barbecue is vegetables marinated in the right ingredients. Marinate your vegetables for as little as 10 minutes when they are particularly porous, like mushrooms, or for up to a few hours when they’re a bit more solid, like carrots and peppers, and be sure to remove any fresh herbs or garlic from the vegetables before grilling them to avoid burning.
Here are 10 of our absolute favorite combos:
- Mushrooms with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
- Carrots with fresh lime juice, ginger, coconut oil, cilantro, and salt.
- Corn on the cob with fresh lime juice, cayenne pepper, olive oil, and salt.
- Red bell peppers with pomegranate molasses, olive oil, lemon juice, cumin, and salt.
- Shishito peppers with soy sauce or tamari, grapeseed oil, a touch of sesame oil, and black vinegar.
- Zucchini with fresh lime juice, olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper.
- Cauliflower steaks with olive brine, olive oil, a touch of agave syrup, and shallots.
- Salsify with red wine, black pepper, grapeseed oil, salt, and pepper.
- Artichokes with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, shallots, salt, and pepper.
- Eggplant with garlic, mint, fresh oregano, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Gourmet Vegan Grilling: 5 Recipes
If burgers and not-dogs aren’t your style, vegan grilling can still be an excellent choice. Here are some of our favorite vegan grilling recipes that have just enough of a gourmet touch to impress without being so overly technical that you can’t take advantage of your party.
Image via Karissa Bowers
1. Grilled Asparagus with Lemon White Wine Fettuccine
This vegan asparagus with lemon white wine fettuccine is a delicious way to use your grill to serve up a more gourmet meal. Pencil-thin asparagus are great for grilling, as you can get them nice and charred on the outside and cook them all the way through in a relatively short amount of time.
Grilled romaine image via Another Pint Please
2. Grilled Romaine
For a more interesting play on a typical summer salad, this grilled romaine recipe is a nice trick to have up your sleeve. You can either serve the lettuce with your favorite vegan dressing, or serve it alongside a homemade hummus for dipping.
Photographs © 2015 by Rodale Inc.
3. Vegan Tacos with Salted Grilled Plantains
This tasty taco recipe features hearty grilled plantains, which are cooked until nicely caramelized. The result is a taco that perfectly blends the natural sweetness of plantains and the savory flavors of salsa verde, pepitas, and a shredded red cabbage slaw.
Photographs by Erin Kunkel
4. Grilled Vegetable Gyros
Gyros may more typically be made with some sort of roasted meat, but this vegan version of the Greek dish uses the flavorful spice blend on a combination of peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion. In place of the yogurt sauce, this vegan ranch is an excellent accompaniment.
Photo by Ally-Jane
5. Grilled Shishito Peppers
Alone, grilled shishito peppers make the perfect appetizer, but combined with a grilled mock meat of your choice or other grilled vegetables, they can be a great element of a complete vegan grilled meal.
Did we miss any of your favorite vegan grilling techniques? Let us know via Facebook or Twitter.
Related on Organic Authority
How to Grill Vegetables to Absolute Perfection (Secrets Revealed!)
Vegan Hot Dogs: Health or Unnatural?
Do Your Vegetarian Hot Dogs Contain Meat? Revealing Study Looks at DNA
Vegan grilling image via Shutterstock
The post How to Master Vegan Grilling (Tricks, Techniques, and 5 Gourmet Recipes!) appeared first on Organic Authority.
from Organic Authority http://ift.tt/29bJ3AS
0 Comments