Ultimate Veggie Barbecue
We sometimes focus too much on the meat and fish elements of a barbecue - this recipe takes advantage of spring and summer vegetables, with some simple but delicious dressings. You can use other produce you have to hand if you wish, such as runner beans, sugar snap peas, asparagus and courgettes.
Ingredients
Serves 4
For the vegetables
- 2 cobs of corn
- 1 broccoli head
- 1 aubergine, cut lengthways into 1cm-thick slices
- 50ml vegetable oil
- 1 bunch of spring onions
- 2 heads of gem lettuce, halved lengthways
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the harissa yoghurt
- 2 tbsp rose harissa paste
- 100g Greek yoghurt
- grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
For the dressing
- 50ml olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2 tbsp capers in brine, finely chopped
- 1/2 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
Method
For the vegetables
Heat your barbecue until hot.
To prepare the vegetables, blanch the cobs of corn in a large pan of salted water for 2 minutes, then plunge into a bowl of iced water. Peel the tough outer layer off the broccoli stalk, quarter the head of broccoli lengthways and blanch for 2 minutes in the sweetcorn water, then plunge into iced water. When both are cold, drain and pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut the cobs of corn in half.
Brush the aubergines slices liberally with the vegetable oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper.
Place the blanched corn and broccoli in a large dish with the spring onions and gem halves. Drizzle the remaining vegetable oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper.
For the harissa yoghurt
Mix everything in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
For the dressing
Mix everything together in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To finish
To barbecue the vegetables, start with the aubergine slices, corn cobs and spring onions. Place them on the hot barbecue, turning them when charred on each side and moving them around the barbecue if some spots are hotter than others. After a few minutes, add the broccoli quarters and stalk and char. Finish with the gem lettuce - which will only take around 2 minutes on each side - then place everything on a large serving platter and drizzle firstly with the harissa yoghurt and then the dressing. Serve hot.
Looking for more culinary inspiration? Find more Marcus Wareing recipes in his collection of cookbooks.
