BBQ recipe – Eat the Vegan Rainbow

BBQ Pulled Eggplant via Eat the Vegan Rainbow — BBQ Pulled Eggplant, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

There’s something magical about barbecue or BBQ as we often call it. I am not sure that it can be put into words, and the best you can do is to try it. Perhaps you can start with the recipe below, which is, technically, not a BBQ; but it successfully recreates what using smoke and cooking low and slow (at low temperatures for prolonged periods of time – typical BBQ setup) results in. Or: you can take a look at a very inspirational cookbook in this area “Great Vegan BBQ without a Grill”.

Regardless of what you decide to do, I don’t think you will be disappointed. The basic idea behind a dish like the BBQ Pulled Eggplant below is to take advantage of the natural eggplant texture, which allows it to be pulled into long strips, and to use a rich marinade. Like any great BBQ recipe, this one also takes time. And although there is no need for low and slow cooking here, there is a need for long marinating, which will help add an incredible amount of flavor to the eggplant.

If you are still hesitant, don’t be! The recipe is super simple. You will need to roast the eggplant, which can’t be easier. You will leave the skin on, wash the eggplant, and put it in the hot oven to roast for about an hour. Once eggplant is full roasted, you’ll leave it to cool, then open it up and scoop all the meat out. Some eggplants have quite a lot of seeds in them, and these may look unappetizing – if they do seem unappetizing to you, chuck them out (preferably on your compost pile!). They are actually completely edible and will not change the final flavor at all – so I suggest you keep them in. All the eggplant that you pull ad scoop out goes into the marinade for an hour or more (overnight in the fridge is fine too).

One time and resource saving tip you’ll like is that I use the marinade as a sort of BBQ sauce. As you will see below, the last step is dumping the pulled eggplant and the sauce it’s been marinading in into a hot pan which will help eggplant brown and caramelize, and the marinade thicken into a rich BBQ sauce. So, you will be hitting two birds with one stone!

BBQ Pulled Eggplant, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

BBQ Pulled Eggplant

What you’ll need:

3 whole eggplants, washed and dried (do not peel)
3 tablespoons canola (or other vegetable) oil
3 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce (or reduced-sodium tamari sauce for gluten-free option)
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons dry chopped onion (for example these), or 1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup

What you’ll do:

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).
Wash and pat dry the eggplant. Place it on a baking sheet lined with some foil or parchment paper and roast for 50-60 minutes. The eggplant should be cooked all the way through.
Take the eggplant out and let it cool. It does not need to be cooled all the way, but it needs to be cool enough to handle by hand.
While the eggplant is cooling mix all the rest of the ingredients in a large container big enough to hold the pulled eggplant while it marinates. Set aside.
When eggplant has cooled of, split the eggplant in half then using a fork start pulling the meat out by sliding the fork lengthwise. Some trips will be shorter, some longer. You can decide which length makes most sense to you – I personally keep it irregular. If your eggplant has a lot of seeds and you rather not use them, pull them out and set them aside to use for something else or compost. At the end of this process, all that will be left will be the eggplant skin. Discard the skin!
Place all the pulled eggplant into the marinade, cover and marinate for at least an hour – overnight in the fridge works well!
Final step: bring a large cast iron pan or a heavy frying pan or a skillet over high heat. Let the pan get really hot, lower the heat to medium to medium high, then dump all your marinated eggplant with the marinade into the pan and let it sizzle. The main purpose here is to get some browning going and thicken up the marinade. Keep stirring things around for about 5 minutes, then turn the heat off and serve as sliders (on mini hamburger buns), or as pulled BBQ sandwich on a large buns. Pickles, pickled onions, and/or coleslaw are all great sides to have on hand here. Enjoy!

Sweet Corn and Sesame Seed Salad, via Eat the Vegan Rainbow

Sometimes salads are complex, feel elaborate and deep, mature and intense. I’ve made couple of those in my life, like this incredible roasted beets and leeks salad with baby kale and the most amazing lemon vinaigrette. I also made salads that are just for fun, with a bit of this and a bit of that, by combining fruits, vegetables and nuts.

But during summer, I like my salads to be simple, yet out of the ordinary. Last summer I went nuts for a pasta salad that used only a handful of ingredients but which I could not stop making over and over again. I think we are at that point in summer when it’s time for another easy, yet amazing salad, with no greens allowed (I love the greens but there is sometimes scope to be just a bit different!).

This corn salad is it – and it’s absolutely a fabulous accompaniment to any grilled food feast. All you need are four simple ingredients and 10-15 minutes. If you have that – boom, boom, boom and you are done.

The corn I use most often is frozen sweet corn, but you could grill your corn and cut the kernels out and use that instead. I bet the grilled/charred corn flavor would be fantastic.

Sweet Corn and Sesame Seed Salad

What you’ll need:

1 lbs (454 g) frozen sweet corn

1/2 cup sesame seeds

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons steak spice (I recommend McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning)

What you’ll do:

Place a large frying pan over medium high to high heat. Add olive oil and frozen corn. Let the corn brown as it defrosts. Mix frequently but do let the corn get some surface caramelization.
While the corn is cooking, toast your sesame seeds. You can do this in a toaster oven or using a stove top. Keep a close eye on your sesame seeds as they toast because they do from nicely toasted to completely burned in a matter of seconds!
Add the toasted sesame seeds to your corn, as well as the steak spice and mix well. The salad is best served room temperature, but you can serve it warm as well. Enjoy!