The weather is finally getting warmer and so it’s time to dust off the BBQ and get cooking. I love having BBQs, but just having a burger is so boring, and I don’t really understand why people do that.

This will be my first summer as a Vegan, but after my first vegan BBQ it’s really no different to being a vegetarian. I made enough for the whole family and everyone loved it; their first vegan BBQ too. Honestly though, I don’t believe you could eat all this and miss meat at all.

So for this BBQ, we had sweet potato burgers with my smoky, tangy homemade tomato ketchup and homemade guacamole, finished with a violife cheese slice. Sam also made some fab rustic burger rolls. Then the burgers were served with a side of my summer quinoa salad and miso vegetable skewers.

It was actually a really healthy Meal, but not one of those boring ‘I’m on a diet’ healthy meals. All fresh, delicious ingredients where you’re not feeling gross and sluggish after.

I made the sweet potato burger from The Year In Food. This is actually a vegetarian recipe and includes an egg to bind, so I simply swapped the egg for a Flax Egg, which worked well. Actually, I think it might have worked even better than an egg. I made these burgers a lot last year and they were often a bit soft and would break on the BBQ, but these held their shape really well. (FYI, a flax egg is 1 tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water and then chilled in the fridge for 15 minutes). I also rolled them in breadcrumbs to give them a nice crunchy texture.

I’m finding being vegan so easy, even just swapping vegetarian meals and making them vegan. This was such a great meal but I wouldn’t call it a ‘vegan meal’. I think that makes it sound like you’re missing things or that you’re making some kind of compromise. This is just good, healthy, delicious food that just happens to not include any animal products. Almost like it becomes vegan by default.

If you get around to making any of these recipes, let me know how you get on. With summer on it’s way I know I’ll be doing lots more BBQ recipe experimenting, so keep a look out.

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