Father’s Day Vegan BBQ Feast

I’m a little late, but luckily I had a day full of hanging out with friends yesterday so I didn’t have time to blog about Father’s Day yet. For Father’s Day this year my family came over to our house for a Father’s Day Vegan BBQ Feast! I was really excited to prepare some dishes that my whole family would enjoy and I always love trying new recipes and experimenting how they turn out. Most people don’t like trying a recipe for the first time on company, but it’s family! Luckily everything turned out to be really tasty so I’m glad it worked out. I really recommend all of these recipes because they’re delicious! I found them on Pinterest and only altered a few things about each. Here’s what we had-

For appetizer, I made a caramelized onion dip that I found on Hot for Food. It makes a lot of dip, probably enough for 8-10 people and it tastes like a fancy version of the French’s onion dip or the sour cream and Lipton soup mix dip we used to have. The base is tofu and cashews which makes it thick and creamy, and the Vegetarian Better than Boullion Beef flavor gives it the same flavor. Using real caramelized onions gives it such a depth of flavor and I served it with some toasted whole wheat pita, carrots, and sliced cucumber. I made this in the morning, because making caramelized onions takes a while, and then you need to refrigerate at least an hour so you can make it ahead. I didn’t include the olive oil and used 1/2 cup of cashews instead. I also added one more tsp of boullion to the onions while sautéing, and used fresh garlic instead of powder.

Recipe Here: https://www.hotforfoodblog.com/recipes/2016/5/4/caramelized-onion-dip

These were fantastic! I was watching Erin Ireland (vegan cooking blogger) on my insta stories and she was making these the other day and they looked too good to pass up! It’s a recipe for Minimalist Baker and they’re the perfect combination of black beans, sweet potato, mushrooms, quinoa, and pecans to make amazing vegan burgers. The BBQ sauce and spices give them a really smoky flavor and they had the best patty making consistency. I made the mixture ahead of time and then left the bowl in the fridge for a few hours, and then made the patties before searing on the stove. Once they get a crust on the stove, you baste them in more BBQ sauce and bake them until finished. They get a deep dark color and are sooo good! I served them on toasted ciabatta rolls, with avocado, lettuce, tomato, and more BBQ sauce. I did not use the oil in these burgers.

Recipe: https://minimalistbaker.com/smoky-bbq-black-bean-burger/?utm_source=bloglovin.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MinimalistBaker+(Minimalist+Baker)

On the side, I made some veggie kabobs and roasted thyme potatoes. I found these awesome peppers from TJ’s to use in my kabobs, along with mushrooms, red onion, zucchini, and yellow squash. I soaked the skewers for an hour and then chopped all of the vegetables in a large dice (except mushrooms) and sliced the squash. I mixed it all with a small amount of olive oil so they wouldn’t stick on the grill and mixed with a little bit of chili powder, cumin, and salt/ pepper to tie in the flavors of the burgers. Josh grilled them for about 10-15 minutes. YUM! This is a great summer side for color and flavor on your plate.

I roasted some diced gold potatoes on parchment with pepper, salt and thyme on 400* for 30-40 minutes until puffy and golden brown.

Father's Day Dinner — Father’s Day Dinner

For dessert I made these Vegan Lemon Bars made with a bag of fresh lemons and they had the same consistency of lemon bars that I remember. They weren’t the bright yellow color of the boxed lemon bars, because they’re made from real ingredients and they still had the lemon flavor. The secret ingredient in these is a ripe banana and make sure you make them ahead of time so they have time to chill in the fridge. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and you have a fancy looking dessert everyone will enjoy! The only different thing I did was use whole wheat flour for the shortbread crust. Great summer dessert!

Recipe: http://heartofabaker.com/vegan-lemon-bars-shortbread-crust/