Smoky barbecue calzone with aubergine and peppers

Many thanks for your lovely comments on my last post. It's safe to say that parenthood is a whole new world, with many ups and downs, and that I have a new appreciation for the effects of persistent sleep deprivation. However, Mini Bite is delightful and I am learning to ride out the challenging moments and savour the cute, lovely, satisfying ones.

This post shares a recipe from before we had a newborn. I am definitely not rolling out dough or finely chopping vegetables at the moment! However, I hope I can re-create this one day because it was a meal we both enjoyed and I absolutely loved the smoky vegetable filling.

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Smoky barbecue roast vegetables

Here in Australia, it isn't really the season for roast vegetables. However, that doesn't stop us having them and it is the season for large, make in advance side dishes. Roast vegetables fit that requirement perfectly.

This dish is a spin off from the tofu in barbecue sauce I first posted two years ago. I still love that dish, and it taught me that barbecue sauce isn't constrained to what you can buy in plastic bottles. Done well, barbecue sauce is a wonderful thing!

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Lemon-agave tofu shish kebabs (for another birthday!)

You know how sometimes you plan a dish in advance, research a recipe, take time to prepare it, and then it isn't really that great? It might be okay (or it might not...), but overall, it just isn't worth the time you put in?

The flip side of those experiences are the times when the opposite happens. You throw something together with minimal planning or thought, with intuition and convenience guiding what ingredients are used, and with a hefty dose of hope when predicting how things will turn out...and then things turns out brilliantly.

That, dear readers, was my experience with these kebabs.

I think we have established that my approach to cooking tends to be more of the 'adapt' / 'make it up' variety than the 'strictly follow a recipe' variety. With these kebabs, though, I had intended to plan them. I was making them to take to my Dad's birthday celebrations last night, to accompany a variety of other kebabs being made by my sister and her boyfriend (seafood, chicken, and red meat). I'd had plenty of time to figure out what my kebabs would involve.

When I got home from work yesterday, about an hour before we needed to leave again, I had absolutely no idea what would be going into these. I knew I had a block of tofu, I knew we had vegetables, and that was it.

It turns out that keeping things simple is a more reliable method than you might think. With three ingredients in the marinade, and seven ingredients overall, these provide a ratio of effort to output that is really quite remarkable.

In all, I strongly recommend this recipe if you find yourself needing to prepare a dish at short notice with no advance planning!

Lemon-agave tofu shish kebabs

An easy dish perfect for barbecues

You can adapt the vegetables to those you have on hand

Makes 8 to 10 kebabs

Vegan and low fat

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 block (~350g) firm tofu, sliced and pressed and then cut into squares

1 red capsicum (bell pepper), cut into strips or squares

1 small zucchini (courgette), cut into slices

1 brown onion, cut into quarters and then small slices

2 tbsp agave nectar (honey or maple syrup would work too, but the flavour would be different)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp soy sauce

8 - 10 wooden kebab sticks

Method

Thread a piece of tofu onto a kebab stick, followed by pieces of capsicum, onion and zucchini. Repeat three times to create a full kebab. Repeat for the other kebab sticks. Set kebabs into a shallow dish.

Combine the agave, lemon juice and soy sauce in a small bowl or jug. Whisk to combine. Pour over the kebabs and then use a marinade brush to ensure all kebabs are coated. 

Allow to marinade for at least 20 minutes before cooking on a barbecue, grill or hot plate for 3-5 minutes on each side, until browned.

Clockwise from bottom left: meat kebabs, seafood kebabs, chicken kebabs, and these tofu kebabs.

Happy birthday to my Dad, too, whose celebrations provided the opportunity for these!

Submitted to Healthy Vegan Friday #33.

What was the last thing you made at short notice that turned out well?

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Tofu with barbecue sauce

I had to title this post carefully, as I realised that the title I was going to use (barbecue tofu) may be misconstrued. You see - as I think this revised title highlights - the barbecue here is in the flavour and not in the cooking method. If you're like me and don't own a barbecue, this is a good thing.

This recipe is easy, versatile, and gives a rather delicious result. The barbecue sauce could also be used in a number of ways, and I can see myself making it for all sorts of purposes in the future. I think it would pair well with veggie burgers, for example, or with tofu wraps.

Having never given much thought to what actually goes into barbecue sauce, it's also rather nice to know just what it consists of - in this version at least.

Tofu with Barbecue Sauce

Lightly adapted from the Smokin' BBQ Tofu recipe in The Vegan Table, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Serves 4, with sauce left over

Print recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of extra firm tofu, cut into slices and pressed for ~20 minutes to remove moisture

• Oil, to taste, for cooking the tofu and onion

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (or real Worcestershire sauce)
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180'C and set the pressed tofu aside while you make the sauce.

2. In a non-stick pan (preferably one with a lid), saute the onion for approximately 5 minutes, until soft.

3. When the onion has softened, add the tomato sauce, lemon juice, white vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and water, and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, covered if possible, stirring occasionally.

4. While the sauce is simmering, saute the tofu in a separate non-stick pan until golden brown on both sides.

5. When the tofu is crispy, place it in a baking dish and cover with the barbecue sauce. Cover the dish and bake in the pre-heated oven for ~30 minutes.

The sauce...

The sauteed tofu...

Well coated in sauce...

And oven baked...

I think in future I would bake the tofu in slightly less sauce - as the above picture shows, it was a fairly generous coating and much of the sauce in the baking dish had to be thrown away and wasted. I think the sauce recipe could easily be divided in two, with half saved for future use and half used for this meal.

The generous sauce coating meant that Mr Bite and I both found the flavour of this to be a little strong, but even allowing for that, it was very enjoyable. There is a slight spice kick to the barbecue sauce (despite the lack of anything notably spicy in the ingredient list) and it tastes fresh and flavour-packed.

Highly recommended!

Now, I have a question: how do you spell barbecue? Because I would rather spell it barbeque, but Mr Bite informed me I was wrong, and some Googling informed me he was right. Does anyone else like a q?

Spelling aside, what are your thoughts on barbecue sauce in general, or barbecue-flavoured dishes?

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