When people hear BBQ they don’t exactly think super healthy plant-based foods…right? Well if you follow me on instagram then you know that last week I had a vegan BBQ that was loaded with beyond delicious plant-based foods. I made it with my family when I was visiting home and we all enjoyed it. I kept telling my parents I was emotional about how good the food was…because it was that good. The whole meal required minimal preparation while delivering maximum flavor. Here’s the lowdown on what we made so that you can try these foods at your next BBQ!
Veggie Shish Kabobs: We picked ours up pre-made at Whole Foods. They came with red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers and red onions. If you make them yourself you can add any vegetables you like such as zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. We topped them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and then threw them on the grill for about 10 minutes. Flipping halfway through.
Grilled Avocado: YES! This does exist. It had never occurred to me to grill avocados before. I just so happened to be flipping through a magazine while we were firing up the grill and saw that this is a real thing so I knew we had to give it a try. Again, so easy. We just halved them, took out the pits, sprinkled with salt and pepper and put them on the grill “meat” side down for about 4 to 6 minutes.
Grilled Pineapple: Easy as can be. We just sliced the pineapple into rings and threw them on the grill as is. We cooked them for about 3 minutes on each side.
Steamed Artichoke: My mom steamed these in the kitchen and we ate them as is. However, artichokes can be grilled too. We loved them so much that we ate one per person. You’ll probably want to make these first because it takes the longest to cook. You can find instructions for steaming artichokes here. I also made a delicious dipping sauce for them. I simply melted Earth Balance plant-based butter with a dash of garlic powder and stirred together. Then as you pick each leaf of the artichoke you dip it in the butter and it is incredibly delicious.
Bread & Butter: And finally we had some delicious fresh made wheat bread (if you follow a gluten-free diet go for a gf bread or skip it all together) with earth balance butter on top. Yum, yum, yum!
It was SO, so good. Hope you enjoy some of these planty foods at your next BBQ!
xo,
Tedi