Need vegetarian BBQ recipes? These easy Greek-style grilled vegetable skewers served over pesto quinoa are a healthy idea for a summer dinner.
This post was created in partnership with The RoomPlace. All opinions are ours.
With summer produce at its peak, we’re firing up our grill more than ever. Char from the hot grill is the perfect treat for all kinds of vegetables, not just sausages and burgers. And for summer entertainment, there’s nothing like the sultry smell of a BBQ, a colorful al fresco meal and a cold pint of beer or rosé. (That’s no exaggeration!) Since we can’t transport you to our current bridge, here’s a kind of virtual summer barbecue. We have a menu with vegetarian grill recipes, drink recommendations and some preparation tips. RoomPlace, a furniture store, was kind enough to sponsor our BBQ show and sent us some indoor and outdoor pieces for our event!
Related: Alfresco summer dinner recipes
Create a grill station for cooking
First the preparation of the grills: we installed a grill station inside. This was the area for all the grilled veggie skewers, including dipping skewers, slicing veggies and herbs, and drizzled with olive oil. Why install an indoor grill station? Using a designated area keeps everything grill-related at the prep station, preventing chaos from creeping into the rest of the kitchen (as it always does). This is especially useful when preparing other foods for the grill portion that will take up most of your kitchen space and keep things organized when guests arrive.
For our grill station we used this home truck from Brisbane. It’s a sturdy cart with lots of storage space. We especially recommend it for kitchens with limited counter space, like the kitchen in our first home.
We did most of our BBQ prep before our guests arrived, including threading our veggie skewers, making the pesto quinoa, and making appetizers and drinks. And we lit the grill which takes some time as we have a charcoal grill. The flavor of this grill is amazing, but it takes about 20 minutes to heat up with a chimney starter.
When the preparations were complete, we moved the party outside. I like to hang out with drinks and finger food while we feel the food sizzling on the grill. A few recommendations for drinks: a chilled bottle of rosé, craft beer, water with cucumber or lemon mint.
This Ari Catalan bench is a clever update to our patio furniture that was in dire need of an overhaul!
Vegetarian grilled recipes are also delicious
As a main course, this Grilled Vegetable Skewers recipe is one of our new favorite vegetarian BBQ recipes. This is the first time we’ve had success with halloumi, a salty Greek grilled cheese that strikes a flavorful balance with colorful veggies. Halloumi can be hard to find in some grocery stores, but we found a few stores near us that sell it. We’ve tried grilling large slices of these in the past only to have them stick and melt on the grill! The halloumi skewer method worked well for us. If you try, be sure to cut it into large chunks and be careful when threading it onto skewers as it may crumble. Halloumi adds a good amount of protein, making it a hearty vegetarian main course. As an additional filling, we served the vegetable skewers over pesto quinoa. It’s a quick and easy side dish, and the bed of light green beans is great for serving. For a vegan option, you can substitute baby bella (cremini) mushrooms; Just make sure you load the quinoa to keep it stuffed.
Our summer grill menu
A few summery side dishes round off this summer barbecue menu! A great way to prepare a full menu is to ask guests to prepare a recipe each. Here’s the full menu (vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan with subs listed):
Corn and black bean salsa fresca
Greek grilled vegetable skewers with pesto quinoa (below)
Summer salad with lentils and rice
Summer Pananelle
Lemon Mint Ice Cream
Berry yoghurt whipped cream*
Thanks again to The RoomPlace for the Summer BBQ! You can find stores in Indiana and Illinois and order furniture online for delivery to those states.
*Use coconut cream for vegans.
Looking for BBQ ideas?
For us, summer barbecues are a synonym for vegetarian barbecue ideas! It’s easy to think of veggie burgers, but often their texture isn’t designed to hold up on a grill. In addition to our Greek-style grilled vegetable skewers, here are some of our favorite grilling ideas:
did you make this recipe
If you make these Greek Grilled Vegetable Skewers, we’d love to know how they turned out. Leave a comment below or share a photo on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.
This recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten free. For vegans or plant-based, substitute baby bella mushrooms and load them up with quinoa to keep them full.
The description
Need vegetarian BBQ recipes? These easy Greek-style grilled vegetable skewers served over pesto quinoa are a healthy idea for a summer dinner.
- Quinoa with pesto
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 Red onion
- 1 Medium yellow summer squash
- 1 zucchini
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces Package of halloumi cheese*
- 1 Lemon, cut into wedges
- ten skewers
- Soak the skewers for 1 hour.
- Preheat a grill over medium heat.
- Start the pesto quinoa.
- Cut the bell pepper, onion, summer squash, and zucchini into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl with the cherry tomatoes. chop mint; Save a pinch for the halloumi (below). In a bowl, toss the vegetables with the mint, 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and some black peppercorns.
- Remove the halloumi from the packaging and drain excess water, then cut into 20 cubes (keep as large as possible). Place the halloumi in a smaller bowl and gently toss with the remaining olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and the remaining mint.
- Carefully thread the halloumi and vegetables onto skewers, being careful as the halloumi can break easily.
- Place the skewers on the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until tender and charred, about 15 minutes. Remove from the grill and squeeze with the juice of a few lemon slices.
- To serve, place the pesto quinoa on a plate and place the skewers on top. Serve with additional lemon wedges.
Remarks
*For vegans, use baby bella mushrooms, mix with the veggies for seasoning and add a few extra pinches of kosher salt.
- Category: main course
- Method: Goal
- Kitchen: Mediterranean Sea
Keywords: Skewers, vegetable skewers, summer barbecues, grilled food, barbecue recipes, vegetarian barbecue recipes, vegetarian, gluten-free, quinoa, pesto
