We are getting to the end of summer so now is the time to grab a day with good weather and do something outside. Last week we stuffed our wagon with our barbecue and supplies and went to the park nearby.
It feels sad to say goodbye to the summer. I am reminded of the old trauma from childhood of knowing I would have to go back to the child prison, they call "school". I still have nightmares about it.
We choose to walk through the alleys where possible, to avoid people that line the sidewalks. It's a little tough to wheel a wagon in the downtown streets, although many people do it.
I feel sad looking at Marc pull the wagon like a slave. Oh well someone has to do it. It's not heavy.
We finally got to the park and realized that it was "tam tam" when the drum circle takes place. The park is transformed into a mini Woodstock and everyone is everywhere getting crazy.
Fortunately at the edge of the park away from the percussionists, we got lucky as a table became free. We were a good distance from the group next to us, but Marc still made us move our table farther away. We like personal space.
I had brought a few items from the fridge and decided to do all the prep outside at the park. The main course was tofu.
Some think, that people that don't eat animal products/ vegans, eat nothing but tofu and avocado toast. Well that's not entirely true. However in the case of this barbecue we had put tofu on the grill.
I know some people that hate tofu and hate the people that eat it. I can't help it, I liked it long before I stopped eating animal products. Could it be my Asian genes? Perhaps. Marc comes from a German background, having grown up only eating meat and potatoes. He likes tofu as much as I do.
The key is to marinate the tofu for a while which is what I did. I wasn't sure at the beginning what I would do. I brought some peanut butter with me so I thought a peanut sauce would be good.
Marinade
1 cup soy sauce
Juice of one lime
3 tablespoons of vinegar
1 tablespoon agave
2 cloves garlic minced
1 inch ginger minced
3 tablespoons peanut butter
The peanut butter that I used was infused with chili so it had a spice kick.
I am one of few people that brings a whisk with me to a city park picnic. I was prepared.
Actually I was not prepared the way I had planned. I forgot the skewers. My plan was to make skewered tofu and veggies. I just put slices on the grill in larger pieces.
Instead of the original plan to cube and skewer, I made the tofu into slabs, or steaks or fillets.
I had a yellow zucchini which I was going to cube but without the skewers I just cut them in half and put them on the grill this way.
I found that the yellow zucchini from the organic market, was not as moist as the green ones. That was okay by me. It just had to come off the grill sooner.
Red and green peppers would have been cubed as well but I kept them in larger pieces.
I brought along some cremini mushrooms and cherry tomatoes which were going to be skewered. This plan changed as well. I stuffed the cherry tomatoes with the mushrooms. That was Marc's idea. That's why they look silly.
I used to make skewered veggies and meat in a commercial kitchen and we always marinated everything before we grilled it including the vegetables.
The marinade was made at the park with items that I had brought.
Marinade for veggies
1 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Fresh thyme and oregano 1 or 2 tablespoons each chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper to taste
The veggies were drizzled with the marinade and left to sit for a while.
For some reason I brought all of some chilies that I had in the fridge. What would I do with them? Put them on the grill straight up.
Our barbecue is one of out best purchases ever. It folds up flat and takes little space. When it's folded you can carry it like a brief case.
After the food was prepped and covered with marinade, we sat to enjoy the rest of the sun. It was starting to set.
The whole time the sound of many percussion instruments was pounding and echoing on the homes and bounces off everything around. It felt like there was an ancient ceremony in the distance and if we get too close we may end up in a sacrificial situation.
When the coals were hot and white, we laid everything on the grill.
Everything was flipped except for the mushrooms which surprisingly cooked well and was a good little vessel for the tomatoes.
Earlier I had cooked some mini potatoes that I had splurged on. They cook fast but I could have just cut some larger ones. This was a convenient treat.
I had brought some vegan frankfurters that are so good they're addictive. We try not to consume too many of them. I wanted to experience them on the grill but they don't have the fat of the regular meat ones so they can't be on too long.
We sat by the barbecue and picked at the stuff on the grill without sitting at the table and having full plates. It got too dark to take photos of a plate.
I saved some leftovers for the next day for brunch.
There wasn't much left but it was enough.
The leftover tofu marinade was saved and heated then poured onto the tofu.
I made a mistake and bit into one of these chili peppers. It seems when they are cooked whole they can bite you back.
Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.
Photos taken with a Nikon D7500 and are of my ownership