Vegetarians can Barbecue, too!

So in Texas, BBQ is a big deal. I mean a really big deal. We have competitions, miles of BBQ restaurants (espeically in Austin..) and a serious love for the art of grilling food. 

Well, enter in two (new) vegetarians. As much as we love corn, and asparagus.. it's tough to be satisfied with only sides or vegetables whenever everyone has burgers, hot dogs, ribs, fajita's, etc. 

I had already been cookin' up ideas in my head for what I could BBQ for us (after all, we have a propane grill we've used all of one time.) And I tried BBQ'ing tofu and faux sausage over Easter..and I was not happy with either. 

So perfect timing, I was chosen for a Crowdtap Sample and Share from McCormick's! They sent us loads of goodies to use to grill up some delicious food. And my challenge, make it vegetarian! 

So here's what we did, and some delicious vegetarian BBQ recipes! 

Here we are at my father in law's house, grilling up some veggie's for Veggie Fajita Taco's. These always kick my craving for Mexican food and fajita's. We used McCormick's Spiced Brandy and Herb mix, which we made in to a marinade (with just vinegar, oil, and water.) It was delish!

The family hanging out while my hubs grilled up veggies for us. The rest of the group ate fish, but munched on some of our veggies as well. 

 Yum! Isn't that thing he's cooking on neat? It's a steel plate hooked up to propane that gets hot. I love it!

The finished product. We grilled zuchini, yellow squash, onions, mushroom, and green bell pepper. We marinated it in McCormick's Grill Mates Spiced Brandy and Herb marinade for 15 minutes, grilled them until soft, then ate them as taco's in flour tortilla's! 

When we got back to town, we were taxed with what we would cook up for 4th of July. All of our friends and family are meat eaters, and it's tough to find good stuff to throw on the grill. So we got creative. 

We used Gardein Chick'n Scallopini (If you haven't tried these, you have got to go and get them now!) We used the McCormick's Grill Mates Memphis Pit BBQ rub, and rubbed them on the "chik'n" pieces and let it set for a while. 

We also made Portabella burgers (a staple in most Vegetarian BBQ..) We used McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning for this, and used olive oil and soy sauce to make a marinade for these mushrooms. (The directions are on the back of the seasoning.) 

This one was probably my favorite. Growing up my best friend's dad would always have the best ranch style beans, and I couldn't figure out how he did it. They were always sweet and tangy.. and he admitted to using two secret ingredients. I'd always known brown sugar was one of them.. but finally found out the other was BBQ sauce! 

Well, imagine my excitement when I got this pretty bottle of sauce in my sample, Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ sauce. The first thing I did was add it into my beans!

We also marinated some Lightlife Backyard Grill'n Burgers (vegetarian) in the Montreal Steak Marinade for ten mintues. (These are excellent burgers, whether they are nuked, pan fried, or grilled!)

Here's a pic of the veggie burgers and "chik'n" grillin. I love that you can see the rub on the chick'n.. and it's crazy how much it looks like chicken to me! (But I swear it's vegetarian..) 

Here's all of our items grilin'.. (We did our BBQ at night because it was too damn hot during the day!) It's Texas, y'all.. 

 Our beans with added BBQ sauce..

The beautiful, grilled finished products!

My final plate.. half a Portabella burger, "chik'n breast", beans and a Veggie burger. Yum! Vegetarian's can grill, too!

Here's some delish recipes for you veg's out there. They can be Vegan as well, depending on what products you buy and what cheese you use. Happy grilling, fellow vegetable fanatics!

Big Boy Portabella Burgers: 

Ingredients: 

Portabella mushrooms (treat 1 as a patty.)

Burger toppings

Burger buns (or bread)

McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning

2 tbs soy sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions: Leave mushrooms in marinade for 10 minutes, flip, then leave another 5-10 minutes. Throw them on the grill for 10 minutes or so, until they become soft (but not mushy). Chop burger toppings and add Mushroom to bottom bun, load toppings, then eat!

add to grill for approx 10 minutes. Then, create burger! (don't forget to add cheese!) 

 

Memphis Pit BBQ Vegetarian "Chik'n" Breast

Ingredients: 

McCormick's Memphis Pit BBQ rub

Gardein Chick'n Scallopini (pictured above)

Clear plastic wrap

BBQ sauce, for drizzling

Directions:

Take frozen Gardein "Chik'n" patties and apply Memphis Pit BBQ rub thoroughly to each side. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate, and let set for 2 hours (or up to overnight. I did 2 hours.)

After time has passed, throw them on the grill until they are done (about 10 minutes max.) Drizzle or dip in BBQ sauce and enjoy!

Note** This will make you totally forget that you aren't eating real chicken. The rub is delicious, and I'm telling you, Gardein makes the best chicken substitute out there. (Plus their ingredients are actual ingredients that you can recognize.) 

Sweet and tangy Ranch Style Beans:
Ingredients:
1 can ranch style beans
1 tbs McCormick's Grill Mates Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ sauce

Directions:
Mix in 1 tbs BBQ sauce into ranch style beans, then heat through either using microwave or stove top.

**Note: If you like baked beans and sweet beans, you could add 1.5 to 2 tbs.. I kept it at 1 because the husband is not a fan of sweet beans.


Veggie Fajita Taco's
Ingredients:
-Any veggies you like! We chose Zucchini, yellow squash, onions, mushrooms, and a green bell pepper.
-McCormick's Spiced Brandy and Herb marinade - **note, this would be great for asian food. It's got cinnamon and ginger it in, so it has a tangy, sweet taste.
-vinegar
-oil (olive, vegetable, canola, etc.)
Flour tortilla's for taco making

Directions: create marinade by following instructions on McCormick's marinade packet (using oil and vinegar.)
Chop all vegetables and let marinade for 15 minutes.
Grill veggies until soft, or to your liking
Stuff into taco's and chow down!

Note: McCormick's Molasses Bacon was sent in the kit but is not vegetarian. It does, in fact, contain bacon. We gave it to my sister in law and suggested she mix it in with her 4th of July potato salad (which she did) and she said it was fabulous! 1 tbs per quart of potato salad, and I also thought it would be delicious on green beans and eggs as well!

Happy eating! xoxo