Cover Image: VBQ—The Ultimate Vegan Barbecue Cookbook

VBQ—The Ultimate Vegan Barbecue Cookbook

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Member Reviews

Being someone who moved from the south to the west coast, I have been missing my BBQ staples. This book has provided me not just an opportunity to eat the things I have loved, but to also explore new things I hadn't considered when cooking vegan for myself and my husband.

Everything was well planned, the choices were great and the instructions easy. I have loved everything I have made with it and plan to keep it in the regular rotation for years to come!

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I like the idea of grilling, I’m just not that confident or creative about it. I like VBQ, the recipes are accessible, inspiring and I love that they are all vegan. I may just have to purchase this book so that I can use it for years to come.

**I received an electronic aARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

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I'm not a vegan, though I've been known to eat vegan meals from time to time. I am generally interested, though, in vegan recipes. I like to try new foods and am especially interested in grilling alternatives since most grilling foods can be fairly unhealthy. While most of these recipes were a bit more extreme than my typical fare, it was accessible and reasonable.

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I am very pleasantly surprised at how many different things Nadine Horn and Jörg Mayer tell us to barbeque. Who would think that celeriac could be cooked on a grill?

Most vegetarian barbecue books stick to tofu, seitan, and sometimes tempeh, my favorite, and get adventurous with eggplant. In this book soybeans take a back seat to mushrooms and a whole host of other vegetables (including the very trendy roasted beetroot) plus some burgers and sausages made from all sorts of seasoned grains in addition to wheat gluten and chopped tofu.

The first 25 pages are barbecue basics – equipment, fire building, grill techniques, smoking, cleanup and safety. There isn't much new here and most people will skip it, but for novices it's comprehensive. I wonder about one technique they call the "The Death Star" which involves putting an aluminum baking dish (a heavy one) in the midst of the coals. Now once upon a time I watched an aluminum sheet that had been put at the back of a fireplace as a reflector melt away. A quick online check and I see that some barbecue fires are hotter than others and some kinds of aluminum melt at lower temperatures than others. The two graphs intersect so I would not try this.

Then follows about 200 pages of text and big photos providing lots of ideas. About 20 of these pages are pizza-like things, which are followed by another 20 pages of salads to eat with your grilled vegetables. Some of the salads have grilled ingredients to add a smoky taste. The next 20 pages are sauces and the final pages are recipes for miscellaneous stuff including breads, pickles and vegan mozzarella. The recipes are straightforward and should not be difficult for any vegetarian kitchen to produce.

I think the best thing about this cookbook is the range of sauces and marinades used to enhance flavors. So we find tofu done up as pepper steak, onions grilled with pomegranate glaze, celeriac with fennel rub, and a host of other unusual combinations.

I am writing this review about 30 minutes before suppertime and between the smell of my dinner cooking and the photos in this book, I am starving. I really wish I had some tempeh and some figs on hand to try the grilled tempeh with fig marmalade, or the crispy oyster mushroom sandwich.

I think you should add this book to your vegetarian cookbook library. It may be the last one you will ever need.

I received a review copy of "VBQ—The Ultimate Vegan Barbecue Cookbook" by Nadine Horn and Jörg Mayer (The Experiment) through NetGalley.com.

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Since I cook vegetarian dinners for my large family and we love to grill out, I was happy to read a temporary digital ARC of this book from NetGalley. There were things I liked about this book, but also areas where it didn't work well for me.

Pros:

There are full color photos of every recipe. I love that.

There are really detailed instructions about everything relating to grilling. I don't know that I ever needed that much information, but if you really want to know about grilling and charcoal and cleaning your grill, you're set.

There's a wide variety of types of foods -- veggie burgers and patties, "steaks" and skewers, sausages, veggies, grilled pizzas and wraps, salads, sauces and breads. I also like that there are recipes to make vegan staples like mozarella cheese (though I prefer other recipes to theirs).

Cons:

We're a gluten free family, and this cookbook calls for a lot of gluten. Not only does it call for lots of seitan (which is made with wheat gluten), but it has lots of recipes for pizzas, breads, wraps, etc.

The recipes are fairly complicated. I'm a fan of simple good foods. I'd love to see more recipes for simple sides like grilled pineapple, romaine hearts or portobellos. Most of the recipes that caught my eye were complicated and required ingredients I don't have in my well stocked kitchen.

I think the author went for variety -- which is good -- but sacrificed the opportunity to really give readers a lot of choices as a result. Most of the grilled foods were covered with one recipe with one flavor, even foods that could be dealt with a ton of different ways. I'd like to see whole sections on great different ways to grill corn on the cob, mushrooms and potatoes, for instance, since they are such versatile foods and there are so many possibilities. There could easily have been a whole section of different flavors of skewered foods and combinations too -- maybe choices for Asian flavors with one marinade, and then a spicy set with suggestions there and then a bunch of choices that would be great with barbecue sauce and so on.

The recipes were not that frugal. I cook for a large family, which is one reason that I cook most things from scratch, even things like veggie patties and pizza crust. One meal from this cookbook would often eat up half my week's grocery budget. I realize that I am way more frugal than most cooks so this probably isn't relevant to many other readers, but that's one reason the book didn't work well for me.

I haven't tried any of the recipes, since all of the ones that appealed to me either involved gluten or ingredients I didn't have easy access to or were too much trouble for my schedule feeding my very busy family. I generally jot down recipes from books that are going to expire soon, but I ended up not finding anything that I wanted to keep.

All that said, this is probably a fantastic cookbook for most vegan cooks -- especially if you are not gluten-free. It's likely to inspire a lot of barbecue adventures and will certainly show that there's a lot more for vegetarians to grill besides tofu and peppers.

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#Vbq #NetGalley #Vegan #Summer #Summer2018

I cannot believe this book can exist. The recipes are delightful, easy and healthy, the book contains the basic techniques to do vegan BBQ and a big collection of illustrated recipes. Just at time for summer. My favorite recipe was VEGAN SPARERIBS.

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When I first seen this book on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it! Full of mouthwatering yet healthy recipes are anything but boring! All recipes are vegan, and all can be cooked on the grill. From grilled salads, to burgers, to stuffed mushrooms, this cookbook has something for everyone. A perfect addition to your cookbook collection, especially for the summer months.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

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Good variety of recipes with unique spin on ingredients. Difficult to find a good vegan recipe book and especially one that use a “meatophile’s” main tool!

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Pretty blown away by the quality and depth of this book. I know nothing about barbeque & grilling, admittedly, and I live in a Brooklyn apartment with no balcony/patio. But I love the detail given on equipment and technique. I haven't made recipes yet (I hate when reviewers haven't made the food yet), but I have already learned so much that even if I don't get the cooker out of our basement, this book has been worth the read. Can't wait to make some of the condiments and burgers. Love the photos too.

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This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

It's been a long time since I've been a vegan, but as a vegetarian I still keep my eye on what's happening and this is why I requested this for review purposes, because it's a topic you don't often see: a barbecue cookbook for vegans! Lots of recipe books, but nary a barbecue book amongst them!

This one was full of tasty and useful suggestions, hints and tips, including information about selecting a maintaining a Barbecue grill - even if you live in an apartment (assuming you have access to some outdoor balcony or something where you could grill). It begins with a lengthy section on barbecuing in general, followed by an introduction to barbecuing vegan style with lots of useful pointers about grilling just right, including retaining moisture and not over-grilling.

The next few sections cover burgers, sandwiches and patties, then "steaks" (including Seitan style!), "sausages", and skewers, stuffed, braised, and grilled veggies, grilled "cheese" sandwich, chapatis, veggie chili, sweet potato buns, pizza (including Vietnamese style!), wraps, and so on. The last time I grilled a wrap my wife refused to wear it and made me buy her a new one! I could probably have used the advice in this book right then! But seriously, the book goes on to cover salads (including Sichuan style!) and sauces, basics, bread, and more, so it's pretty darned comprehensive.

The only complaint I would have is one which I have about all ebooks which contain photos. It's nothing to do with these authors or this book in particular. Actually you could blame me, because I read my books in 'night' mode which saves on battery power because it lights up only the text, leaving the screen background black. The problem with this is that all images show negative, so you have to put it back into daytime mode to see the image as the author(s) intended. I'm not sure anything can be done about that - although you'd think it oughtn't to be beyond today's technology. So this is a ebook reader/ebook app issue, not a problem with this book per se.

That aside, I recommend this book for a refreshing variety of ideas, food preparation tips and tasty meals! Grilling ain't just for carnivores any more!

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Barbecue means summer, flames, and meat for most people. If you are on a vegan diet that doesn’t have to mean you can’t enjoy a barbecue. With VBQ-The Ultimate Vegan Barbecue Cookbook, you don’t have to.

Before getting down to the recipes, the About Barbecuing section covers many aspects of barbecue. First Is The Basics. This section covers how to choose the right barbecue for you, the right barbecue tools, and even cleaning utensils. Other accessories like pans, pizza stones etc. are also mentioned along with Dutch oven‘s, cast iron griddle‘s and grills, bricks etc.

Next is a helpful hint on how not to annoy your neighbors with your barbecue, and information on barbecuing in the great outdoors, or even out of season. A section on the best fire for a charcoal barbecue covers the various fuels like charcoal, briquettes etc. and include information on how to light the fire. Next comes information on controlling the temperature, and the various cooking methods, like direct and indirect cooking as well as others.

Smoking is also covered, including what to smoke and what not to smoke. Cleaning the barbecue and safety follow.

The recipes section is divided into several categories:

How To Barbecue Vegan Style
Burgers, Sandwiches & Patties
Steaks, Sausages &Skewers
Vegetables-Stuffed, Grilled & Braised
Pizza, Wraps & Co.
Salads-From The Grill Or Otherwise
Sauces & Basics
Bread & More

The first recipes section, How To Barbecue Vegan Style includes information on how to barbecue vegetables the right way. This includes information on Marinating And Salting, Blanching, and Cooking In Advance.

Next comes the Right Way To Barbecue Tofu. Here you will find out what to buy and how to prepare tofu for your barbecue. The Right Way To Barbecue Tempeh and The Right Way To Barbecue Seitan conclude the chapter.

Each of the recipes is accompanied by a full-page four-color photo. The recipes also include serving sizes, barbecue time, and prep time.

An Excellent Selection Of Vegan Recipes

Some of the recipes call for ingredients you wouldn’t normally find in a non-vegan household but should be easily sourced, even for someone not following a vegan diet.

In all, I believe that the recipes in this book will come in very handy for anyone who wants to expand their grilling repertoire. Even if you are not planning on going vegan, it’s always nice to have non-meat options on the table.

See the full review and the recipe for Roasted Carrots With Fruity Lemon Oil at The RecipesNow! Reviews And Recipes Magazine. This review is written in response to a complimentary copy of the book provided by the publisher in hopes of an honest review.

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This book was outstanding! Great tips,excellent photos, and inventive recipes without being too unusual! I love that a barbecue cookbook also contains salads, pickles, dips, and breads. Not to mention all the other grilled veggies for mains and sandwiches. An excellent addition to my collection! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

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I've long been in the market for a book about vegan barbecue, but even as a vegan, I'm hesitant to barbecue because cooking with tofu, seitan, and tempeh can be tricky in this context.

This book covers all the bases. It starts with basic materials, and moves into basic techniques, it makes grilling vegan "idiot-proof" in the best sense. It looks at the various ingredients and explores how they react to the barbecue heat, marinade, etc. Essentially, this is the best part because as a vegan, you're not into wasting food experimenting with unknown variables on the grill.

Moving into the recipes, it's a varied bunch, from veggies and mushrooms, to tofu, etc. Your standard portobello mushroom burger is here, but now you can get a recipe for grilled onigiri.

Currently buried under snow, I haven't had the chance to get out my grill yet and really get to work on these in the traditional sense, but what I have tried on the oventop grill so far has been delicious!

It also provides a nice segway into backyard barbecues beyond... "Well, I'm vegan, so I'll bring the salad." Backyard bbqs are such a part of American culture that vegans have long been excluded from, that hopefully, this book and those that follow will be the ones that finally bring these two food cultures together equally.

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As someone who doesn't grill I was curious if there was any recipes I could do inside for barbecuing because I know there is a way to grill without actually using a grill and you can make barbecue food at times using a stove or oven. This book is definitely perfect for people who like to barbecue or who grill a lot.

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I love this book! There are so many different flavor combos and types of foods to try. It makes me sad that we're in the middle of winter and I'll have to wait so long to try out these recipes. I especially loved the recipe for Plantain Patties, something that I'm sure I'll loe. I appreciated that there were a lot of grilling tips at the beginning, and that there are tips for each type of food to grill: adding extra oil to tofu, etc. Really helpful information for inexperienced grillers like myself. I'm adding this one to my wish list.

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This book tells you not only about grilling vegan meals, but also what type of grill you can buy, it’s function, and how to use it. They inform the reader about all of the accessories that are useful for vegan grilling , how to use different types of tools and pans, and everything you need to know before you start grilling! The author’s even discuss the different types of charcoal and briquettes, and how to build the proper fire! This is the ultimate vegan grilling book!
The recipe section tells the cook how to marinate, salt, blanch, and precook the vegetables to get the best flavors from them. You are taught how to buy, prepare, cut and marinate tofu so that it is irresistibly delicious!
The portobello mushroom patties look delicious and the recipe is easy to follow. The eggplant burgers use items that you can buy at your local grocery store, and they are paired with a tahini and yogurt sauce.
The vegan spareribs look delicious, they use an ingredient called “wheat gluten, and they are formed together with fennel, apples, pineapple juice and they are basted with bbq sauce.
There are recipes for stuffed mushrooms, grape leaves and stuffed cabbage that look absolutely mouth-watering!
There are recipes for pizza bites with tomatoes and mozzarella, grilled pesto tarts, and grilled quesadillas with apricot filling that look so good, I could eat them off of the page!
There are recipes for different types of bbq sauce, a creamy cashew sour cream recipe, flavored butters, hummus and bbq rub recipes.
You will want to literally “devour” this book, it is so good!

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Amazing quantity and quality of recipes, complimented with vivid photos.

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I enjoyed reading through this cookbook and can’t wait to cook some things from it. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to try out all of the recipes because some of them rely on vital wheat gluten, which I can’t eat. Overall, I really enjoyed the variety of recipes and there wasn’t anything that I thought would be too difficult to make.

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Confession: I'm not much of a griller. We don't even own a grill other than a grill pan that I use mostly for paninis. I think part of it is because I'm a vegetarian, and I have long associated grilling with meat. I think the rest of it is because I'm also intimidated by grilling!

This book makes grilling vegan meals incredibly approachable. It starts off with all the basics of grilling- the type of grill to use, how to cut tofu, and everything in between. It really is a thorough background.

After the basics, I still felt intimidated. There was so much to learn! Would I like the foods after years of very little grilling?! Well...the first recipe was <b>Quinoa Chickpea Burgers</b>, and I knew I had found "my people," or my cookbook, as the case may be. If there is anything I am obsessed with more than pesto in my life, it's chickpeas.

I also thought this book would mostly be about grilling tofu or other soy products, and I'm not a big soy eater. Thankfully I was wrong. There are tons of ideas for grilling here, all well beyond the tofu burger, though that's in here, too, with fresh twists. It even has many recipes for "steak" like dishes, such as cauliflower steaks and different skewers.

I'm trying to stretch and grow my cooking techniques while always keeping our meals fresh, and this is a great place for me to start with grilling. Also included: tons of beautiful pictures of the food! Of course! 😉

Thanks to Nadine Horn, The Experiment, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this special cookbook.

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A great cookbook for those looking to explore a vegan diet in a new way. This cookbook begins by giving best practices for any grill type and then approaches best practices for different food items. I love the design of the book and the diversity of recipes. Great for any cooking collection.
This book will be published just in time for next summers cookouts, so go ahead and add it to your wishlist and remember to get it in May!

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