Great Tasting, Easy To Cook BBQ Vegetable Recipes From Around The World

A Personal Selection Of Tried & Tested Recipes For You To Enjoy

As I come across other good vegetable recipes I'll add them to the page so subscribe to the blog or check back every now and again when you're after something new.

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The BBQ Vegetable Recipes

Greens with Coconut and Chillies

This recipe comes from my mate Greg in Thailand who recently caught up with a cousin in San Francisco and had this dish.

• 1 cup finely grated unsweetened coconut (dried)
• 1 ½ cups of water
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 3 x 7-8cm long dried chillies - your choice of variety
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp coconut or canola oil
• ¾ tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp raw rice
• 3 lg leaves red swiss chard, chopped (about three cups)
• ½ tsp salt

Stir together coconut and ½ c water in a bowl.

Let soak at room temp until water is absorbed, about 1 hour.

Stir in cumin, turmeric and ½ cup of water until combined.

Smash garlic with flat side of a large knife and stir into coconut mixture.

Heat oil in a wok over med-high heat until hot but not smoking, then add mustard seeds and fry until they make popping sounds, about 15 seconds.

Add rice and red chillies and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is golden, about 1 minute. Add chard and salt, cook, stirring, until chard is wilted, about 30seconds.

Stir in coconut mixture and remaining ½ c water and bring to a simmer.

Cover chard mixture with lid and simmer until stems are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated and mixture is dry, about 5-7 minutes.

Stuffed Chilli Bajjis

One of my all-time favourite Indian dishes

• 5 - 8 large green chillies - poblano, Big Jim, etc
• 1/2 cup Gram flour (chickpea flour - you can substitute with plain flour, but it's not the same)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder

For stuffing

• 1-2 medium sized onions finely chopped
• 1-2 grated carrots
• 1/2 tsp chutney - choose your favourite
• a bunch of finely chopped coriander

Make a batter with gram flour,salt and chilli powder with water.

Heat the oil in wok and then dip the green chilli in the batter, it should be well coated with batter. Then drop in to hot oil carefully, fry till crisp and golden brown.

After removing from oil slit the bhajji in the middle then stuff it with chopped onion grated carrot.

Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves and drizzle your favourite chutney over it and serve.

Although a little fiddly, these are great entree or snack when you're looking for something a bit different.

Broad Bean and Feta Dip

This a perfect light and tasty starter to your feast.

• 4 wholemeal Lebanese breads
• 2 cups broad beans, fresh is better but frozen is fine
• 100g marinated feta cheese
• 2 serrano chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
• 100g ricotta cheese
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
• Smoked paprika, hot variety

Place the Lebanese breads on 2 oven trays and lightly brush them with some of the olive oil, on both sides. Bake in the oven, turning occasionally, until crisp and lightly coloured. Remove from oven and set aside.

Cook the broad beans in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender.

Refresh them under cold running water, drain well and peel.

Place the broad beans, feta, ricotta , chilli and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until almost smooth.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with paprika.

Break the Lebanese breads into large pieces and serve with the broad bean dip.

Hot & Spicy Corn Puffs

Makes about 35 puffs.

• 2 corn cobs
• 3 tblsp coriander leaves, chopped
• 6 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 red cayenne chilli, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 large egg (70g +)
• 2 teasp ground cummin seeds
• 0.5 teasp ground coriander seeds
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 teasp salt
• pepper to taste
• oil for deep frying
• asian style sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Cut the corn off the cob with a sharp knife. Roughly chop the kernels then put them in a bowl with the remaining ingredients except the flour. Stir well. Then add the flour and mix well.

The batter texture will depend on the amount of juice in the corn. If it is excessively dry, add 1 tablsp of water. You shouldn't need anymore than that as the batter is meant to be dry. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Heat oil to 180 C . Drop slightly heaped teaspoons of the batter into the oil and cook for approximately 1.5 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Drain on paper towel and then serve immediately with the sweet chilli sauce as a dipping sauce.

makes 4 serves

Veges:

• 1 eggplant, cliced into 1/2 cm thick slices (rounds)
• 4 zucchinis, cut lengthways into 1/2 cm slices
• 2 Spanish (red) onions, sliced into 1cm thick slices
• 1 sweet potato, sliced into 1/2 cm thick slices
• 2 yellow capsicums, quartered with seeds and pith removed
• 1 red capsicum, quartered with seeds and pith removed
• 1 large sourdough bread, cut into 2 cm thick slices

Aioli

• 2 tablsp fresh sweet basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablsp fresh oregano leaves
• 1 teasp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 teasp lemon juice
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Aioli

Put the herbs, garlic and egg yolk into your food processor and blend until smooth.

With the motor running at medium, slowly pour in the olive oil. Keep the motor running until the mixture thickens.

Blend in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and store in the fridge until meal time.

Grilled Veges

Pre-heat and oil your grill plates.

Brush all the vegetables lightly with olive oil and grill in batches.

As the individual pieces are cooked through, but still firm, remove them to a separate area, keeping them in a single layer to avoid steaming.

When all the veges are done, grill the sourdough slices until lightly toasted and grill-marked.

For each person, spread one side of each of 2 slices of the bread with a tablespoon of the aioli.

Pile some of the grilled veges and drizzle a little more aioli of the top and serve.

Makes 2 serves

As with any stir fry - it's all in the preparation. Once you have this set up, you're ready in just a few minutes.

This recipe will suit any asian meat dish or is quite fine just as it is served with jasmine rice.

• 2 tablsp peanut oil
• 1 red cayenne chilli, deseeded and chopped
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped snow peas
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped baby corn
• 300ml beef stock stock
• 1 tablsp light soy sauce
• 1 tablsp cornflour blended with 2 tablsp cold water
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• Salt and ground white pepper

Start heating the stock in a saucepan.

Heat a wok over high heat and add the oil.

Add the red chilli and onion and stir fry for less than 1 minute the add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for 1 minute.

Add the stock (it needs to be hot) and mix well. Season with light soy sauce. Bring to the boil, add the blended cornflour and stir well.

Add the spring onion, season to taste and serve.

Grilled Baby Potatoes

makes 8 serves

You'll need skewers for this recipe.

• 1kg baby potatoes
• Olive oil spray
• 2 teasp sea salt flakes
• 1 teasp smoked paprika, sweet

If you are using bamboo skewers you'll need to soak them in water for 30-60 minutes and then drain

If you are using metal skewers, go to the next step

Preheat barbecue to medium heat

Place potatoes into a large saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to the boil

Reduce heat to medium-low and let them simmer for about 5 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer

Drain and rinse under cold water

When they're cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes in half and thread onto skewers.

Spray potatoes with oil and sprinkle with the sea salt and paprika

Grill for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp and serve

Thai Basil Eggplant

makes 2-3 serves as a side dish

This is a great side dish too some

• 4 Chinese eggplants, sliced into 2cm (1 inch) thick rounds
• 3 tablsp peanut or soy oil
• 2 Thai bird’s eye chili, de-seeded, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup water

• 2 cups Thai basil leaves, whole (yes, it's different to Italian/Sweet basil)
• Asian fish sauce, to taste

Heat up a large non-stick skillet and drizzle with oil.

Throw in the chili and garlic and fry for a minute until fragrant.

Add eggplant and continue to toss until garlic turn golden.

Add a cup of water and cover with lid.

It should take about 5 minutes for the water to be absorbed and the eggplant to finish cooking.

Once the eggplant is tender, add basil and fish sauce to taste.

Quickly toss everything together and take off heat.

Serve immediately with hot jasmine rice.

Bacon and Corn fritters

makes 4 serves

• 2 large corn cobs
• 175g rashers rindless bacon, chopped
• 1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 2 large avocados, mashed with a little lime juice
• light sour cream, to serve
• olive oil

Use a sharp knife to remove the kernels from the cobs. The cobs are not much use so put them in the bin or your compost heap.

Place the bacon in a non-stick frying pan, or on the grill plate over medium-high heat

Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes or until lightly coloured golden

Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel

Sift flour into a bowl and season with salt and pepper

Then whisk the milk and eggs in another bowl until well combined and then pour over the flour

Stir gently until smooth and then add the corn, onion, and bacon and continue to stir until it's all combined

Preheat your hooded BBQ to 160°C (320°F) and then spread a little oil over your cooking surface

Use ¼ cup of the mixture per fritter, spoon the mixture onto the hot, oiled, surface

Cook for 4 to 5 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through

Transfer to a wire rack and keep them warm in while cooking the remaining fritters

Serve topped with bacon, avocado and a dollop of sour cream

Grilled Pineapple With A Spiced Lime Syrup

makes 4 serves

You can vary the flavours and aromas in the syrup to get a different flavour every time.

Try star anise, lemon, orange, cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, etc ......

• 1 ripe pineapple
• 300g white sugar
• 1 lime, thinly sliced
• 1 red cayenne chilli,de-seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, cut into a few pieces (use scissors)
• 500ml water
• Vanilla ice-cream, to serve

OK, first up make a simple sugar syrup by putting the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and pouring in the water.

Place over a low heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Raise the heat to medium and bring the syrup to the boil. Let it boil/simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the lime slices, chilli and rosemary pieces to the syrup, and let it bubble for another 5 minutes.

During that 5 minutes, prepare the pineapple. Cut off the top and base from the pineapple, then stand it upright on a board.

With a serrated knife, slice away the skin and prise out any dimples left in the fruit.

Turn the pineapple on to its side and cut into 8 even wedges.

Heat up BBQ grill to high and put the pineapple on, pressing them gently on to the grill bars.

After about 4 minutes, turn each wedge over and do the same to the other side.

Turn the wedges over and repeat on the other side.

Remove the pineapple wedges from the grill and put in a wide dish.

Pour the syrup over the pineapple with all the aromatics.

Leave to cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but overnight is better, as it gives time for the flavours to blend.

Before serving, drain off the syrup and run it through a fine sieve to remove any solids.

Serve the wedges with vanilla ice-cream, drizzled with the sieved syrup.