It’s Memorial Day, which means, among other things, the start of barbecue season. Which, for the non-meat-eating among us, is sort of fraught. Herewith, a few tips on surviving a barbecue as a vegetarian.
Do not underestimate the Gardenburger.
I was a pure vegetarian for about three years, and since then I’ve been a pescetarian for about five, so I have sampled a lot of fake meats in my day. I have the following controversial opinion: Boca Burgers are gross. To me they have this sort of icky chemical undertone that makes me think of the food we will eat on the giant colony ships after the destruction of the Earth. Gardenburgers, however, are delicious! They are not really trying to be meat, and instead are sort of a tasty blend of veggies and grains. Yum! I am not being paid by the Gardenburger company, but if they want to send me a bunch of free Gardenburgers for this year’s barbecue season, I would be pretty psyched. Because even if you try to limit your intake of fake-meat products, a barbecue is a time when it’s kind of nice to be able to just swap in your own patty and eat more or less what the carnivores are eating.
Do not overestimate the portobello mushroom.
This is more of a tip for hosts: don’t necessarily assume that your vegetarian guests are going to be super psyched about the portobello mushroom caps you are grilling for them in lieu of burgers. Yes, some people love these. But I’ve spoken to a sizable contingent of vegetarians (myself included) who find a giant slab of mushroom sort of weird. If you’re going to offer this as a meat-substitute, marination is key (I suggest olive oil and balsamic, or olive oil, chiles, and soy sauce). Also, consider cutting the mushrooms into slightly smaller pieces to increase surface area and decrease that biting-into-a-huge-chunk-of-fungus feeling.