BBQ, "The Club," and 2 Recipe Requests!

Well! I mentioned in my last post that we just got a new barbecue. I've been reading everyone's blogs about grilling ... and all of Jess' perfect grill marks... it's been driving me crazy! Now that we have a lovely new patio, we decided it would be incomplete without a grill. I have been having fun learning how to use it.

So that leads to the first of my special recipe requests... Does anyone have a good BBQ sauce recipe? Or even just a good brand? When I grill tofu or tempeh or seitan, should I marinate it first? (I assume the answer is a definite yes for tofu)... Any favorite grilling ideas would be much appreciated!

Another recipe request: My mom wants to know if anyone has a good vegan "egg salad" recipe... like the one they sell at Trader Joe's. Any tips?

On Sunday we had a nice backyard BBQ in honor of fathers day. We had my parents, my wonderful grandparents, my two aunts, an uncle, my aunt's boyfriend, my cousin & her husband. Fun.


First I BBQed some baby potatoes from the farmers' market. I got red skin with white flesh, red skin with yellow flesh, yellow skin & flesh, and - of course - purple potatoes. I put on a little olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a spring of fresh rosemary. Then I wrapped them in a foil packet & threw them on the grill. I must say, this was all the idea of Musty's brother. Wow!! They turned out amazing!!

Here's the big bowl of grilled veggies that we ended up with: eggplant, zucchini, corn, onions, red peppers, and the potatoes. These were a big hit with my veggie-loving family! My two aunts are both now vegan and my cousin & her husband have turned vegetarian & are currently following the Eat To Live diet. It's so cool!

Here's my whole plate - an Amy's California Burger, some veggies, and a nice kale-garbanzo salad that my aunties made. YUM!

Recently many people have been mentioning the Real Food Daily Club Sandwich... Last week Musty's brother was out for a week, and we were getting along better than ever. We don't readily have a lot in common, and I decided not the rock the boat and make him eat my homemade vegan food! :) That said, I had a massive reserve of pent-up cooking energy by today! So - I tackled "The Club."

First, you make the "Chicken Style Seitan" from the RFD cookbook, which is a very easy recipe. This was the first time I've made it & it's great!! It makes about 4 lbs worth, and is a baked recipe... takes two hours, but it's almost all oven-time & almost no labor. The recipe is not as hard/chewy as some seitans, but a bit softer and more delicate in a very nice way.

Then you need all the ingredients: tempeh bacon (I bought those great lightlife ones), tomatoes, lettuce, soy mayo, sourdough bread, & your seitan. The seitan is dipped in a seasoned batter, and then rolled in panko crumbs. (I used some nice Ian's whole wheat panko crumbs) The the seitan slices sit for a while, before being fried. It said 1 hour to overnight, but I skimped with 1/2 hour, and the results were still great. Now, I am notoriously terrible at frying things, mostly because I am grossed out by the whole concept - and always end up with something way too oily and nasty to even look at, yet alone eat. But I was determined and confident tonight & the results were easy & fantastic! (If Chris can do it, so can I!) I think I used enough oil, but not too much, and I let it get very hot before putting in the seitan - so they didn't soak up the oil, they just sizzled in it. The patties were golden and crispy.

This is a close up of the sandwhich - 3 pieces of bread! How fun. I even got some fresh-baked, organic sourdough sandwich bread from the bakery. Yeah! These sandwiches really were incredible - very very filling & delicious!!! If you're up for a fun project, I definitely recommend this recipe. If you make the seitan the day before, like i did, the sandwiches only take 30 min or so from start to finish. Fun!