BBQ inspiration?

[BlackNeko]

I'm attending a big family BBQ this Sunday. I've been asked to prepare the side dishes and an entree that I can share. They know I am vegan and are very accommodating, but I would still like to "wow" them with omni-friendly (and fulfilling) food - I say fulfilling because whenever I visit they always prepare me salads or plain grilled veggies, thinking that's all vegans can eat!-.

Any ideas? I thought of maybe preparing something mexican (guacamole, salsa, bean & "queso" dip, homemade flat bread...but I still need things that go on the BBQ. Veggie brochettes? Marinades? ..?

Thanks! :-)

[Astrid660]

keep it simple, is what comes to my mind. Perhaps a nice vegan potato or macaroni salad made with veganaise? I personally love BBQ tofu. I've never prepared it on the grill, but I just dry-pan-fry it until it is crisp then I add some chopped onions, bbq sauce, turn it down to low and cover it for 5 minutes until it caramelizes.
Maybe a vegan greek salad with tofu feta? Corn on the cob with some earth balance? I think barbeque and I think of all those classic dishes that I had growing up, and consider how to make them veg friendly. Good luck!

[BlackNeko]

Thanks for the great ideas Astrid660. Sadly it's not corn season right now (that would've been a great solution), but I like the idea of BBQ tofu (maybe some kind of brochette with bbq glazed tofu & pieces of zucc, mushrooms, onions, etc.)

[harpy]

That sounds good. If you can get big (portabella) mushrooms you could marinate and grill them whole, and serve them like burgers. I think you can barbecue asparagus too though I've never tried it.

[Sha Ri A]

This recipe for vegan BBQ sauce is pretty amazing with tofu... I made it for a BBQ last week, but roasted the tofu in the oven after pressing it between 2 plates to get the water out, then sloshing a bit of soy sauce and peanut oil and roasting for 15 mins, then turning the tofu and roasting again. Then covered it in this sauce, and baked for 15 minutes. All the non-vegans who apparently don't like tofu demolished it too! Also, what about homemade seitan cutlets. Made seitan from scratch recently for the first time and was surprised at how easy it was. You don't need vital wheat gluten, you can just make it from strong or bread flour which is far easier to come by! :-)