Monday, June 21, 2010

Your Clay Baker, Your BBQ, and You

Some people are a little baffled when it comes to vegan BBQ, but the truth is you can cook just about anything on a grill. One of my favourite thing to do is use clay bakeware to cook a variety of dishes. I love this little pig clay baker--perfect for potatoes. When you cook in a clay baker you can get rid of the aluminum foil and still get the same result. Pictured below are fingerling potatoes, tossed in a little olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
And here are some carrots, potatoes, and onions. Onions are a nice addition to any roasted vegetable since they come out very sweet and add great flavour.
And here is an Italian-style stew: veggies, white beans, and red wine, basted with a tomato sauce and baked without a lid in a high sided clay dish. If want to baste your veggies, make sure you use a warm liquid since adding something cold to hot clay will cause it to break.
The method is all pretty much the same. You toss the veggies in oil, then bake for about 40 mins, stirring the veggies regularly to keep them from burning to the bottom of the baker. You can use the lid or not. Keep the temperature at around 550 degrees, monitoring it with a thermometer like you see here.
And, of course, you can always grill some tofu.