Veggie barbeque

I rarely do a barbeque, but a veggie barbeque can be a fine thing. When I'm here in Finland during the summer, a few barbeques are a must. This time I just char-grilled some vegetables, halloumi and rye bread, and that made a very filling meal. I have been eating quite a lot in general on this holiday, so a small diet could be in the cards when I get back to the UK, a healthy diet with affordable pulses etc. Okay, but back to the BBQ theme now.

Here are the components of my meal this time:

- new potatoes (pre-boiled), I could just barbeque new potatoes alone, they get divine after a bit of char-grilling

- bell peppers

- aubergine, rub the aubergine slices with barbeque seasoning and oil

- new season onions

- tomatoes, I put the tomatoes into additional foil bags, as they get very soggy

- halloumi

- rye bread, a must in a Finnish barbeque and so tasty slightly grilled and eaten with some butter

As a veggie barbeque drink I could recommend the Finnish Olvi Hiili 4,5 %, a very dark beer that actually tastes a bit like coal.

What kind of veggie barbeques have you been having?

Your VegHog

 

 

Freekeh salad with barbeque flavours

Today was quite warm here, but I'm not sure if the good weather is going to continue. However now it's nice to dream of summer and eat a light salad with barbeque flavours at least. I found this tasty barbeque sauce and bought it even though it refers quite heavily to meat products. The product itself is of course suitable for vegetarians and quite tasty, so I try to ignore the name. I haven't used barbeque sauces for ages, maybe it's just not something that vegetarians do so often, but now I'm totally hooked. I can see this coating many vegetables for me and adding flavour. What are your thoughts about barbeque sauce?

I used these ingredients for the salad:

2 romano peppers

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp barbeque sauce

½ cup freekeh

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

250 g halloumi

1 tsp vegetable oil

Mixed salad leaves

First I chopped the peppers into generous cubes and roasted them coated in olive oil. Once they were roasted, I coated them with the barbeque sauce and let marinade for a while.

Chop the garlic finely and cook it a little in olive oil. Add the freekeh, water and vegetable stock powder and cook until done.

Cut the halloumi into cubes and fry them in vegetable oil until they are golden brown.

Serve all these components with some mixed salad leaves. I served the freekeh, barbeque peppers and halloumi warm, but the salad is also tasty when served cold.

Have a nice week!

Your VegHog

Midsummer (Juhannus) in Finland

Happy Midsummer my dear readers! Hyvää juhannusta!

Today is Midsummer's eve, a big festivity in Finland, and I'm lucky enough to be able to celebrate it here this year. You can read more about the exciting Finnish Midsummer traditions here.

I'm just going to have a relaxing time. What I'm going to do next is a daytime sauna visit where I'll beat myself with birch branches and after that there will be a garden vegetable barbeque. Maybe I'll enjoy a couple of local drinks like lonkero or cider while I'm at it. It's not particularly warm here, but we'll be stubborn and barbeque in my mum's garden anyway. Here are some photos from her blooming garden.

Have fun!

Your VegHog

 

 

 

Late summer charcoal grilling in foil

There are so many different options for versatile vegetarian barbequing and this is only one of them. I just about managed to squeeze this post in during the summer, it's only August, right?

When I'm in Finland in the summer I always grill fresh vegetables in foil parcels, as wrapping everything in foil makes the grilling procedure easier and the vegetables char more gently. It's also nice garden fun for the family and can be done even in the autumn. There's always the possibility to eat indoors if it's too chilly outside.

New potatoes must never be missing from this sort of ensemble. They should be pre-boiled until almost done, then wrapped in foil and grilled until their bottom bits get brown grilling marks. This method brings out the new potato flavours in a marvellous way and adds some smokiness.

Onions and tomatoes are a great addition and they don't need any pre work other than chopping. Quarter them and wrap them into individual foil bags and grill gently. So simple!

This time I made a stuffed courgette and grilled it. Take a large courgette, cut it in half and scoop its insides out by leaving a thin courgette shell of about 1cm thickness. Stuff the courgette halves with chopped tomatoes, onions and grated cheese and their own insides. Season them with salt and pepper and grill wrapped in foil.

Another tasty, and more effortless, option is to chop the courgette into smallish pieces and grill it with some emmental cheese cubes.

Once I even grilled some pre-boiled purple cauliflower. It added some nice unusual colour to the plate.

One item that can't be missing from the grill either is rye bread. Once all your veg has grilled sufficiently, place pieces of rye bread on the grill and lightly grill them. They are so nice with a smoky flavour and a filling addition to your meal.

Enjoy your grilling moments!

Your VegHog