When making vegetable souvlaki, it is important that all individual components are of similar size to ensure same level of cooking all round. Marinating the vegetables in a little oil and herbs for 30 minutes before cooking adds a lot of flavour and helps caramelisation during the cooking process.
Ingredients
For the vegetable souvlaki
- Ingredients (makes 8 souvlaki)
- 1 globe aubergine
- 2 medium red onions
- 2 medium sized courgettes
- 1 punnet of button mushrooms
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh or dried oregano
- 1 lemon
For the dip
- 150g Greek feta cheese
- 75g Greek yogurt
- 1 oven roasted red pepper in olive oil from a jar
- 1 tbsp good quality white wine vinegar
- ½ fresh red chilli, finely chopped
Method for vegetable souvlaki with a feta and roasted pepper dip
Cut the aubergine in rounds 1.5cm thick and then each round slice into bite sized squares. Put the aubergine pieces in a colander and sprinkle with some sea salt. Leave for 15 minutes for the salt to draw out any bitterness and excess moisture. After that time, rinse well and squeeze the pieces as dry as you can.
Trim the courgettes and cut into 1.5cm round slices.
Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth to remove any soil.
Cut the onions into quarters and separate each quarter into two pieces.
Put all the chopped vegetables in a bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and the juice of half a lemon season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with some oregano and the zest of the whole lemon. Massage with your hands and leave to marinate.
To make the dip, put all the ingredients in a small blender and blitz. Season with some salt to taste and adjust the heat by adding more chilli if you like your food really spicy.
If using wooden, put the BBQ skewers in a shallow dish and cover with water.
When ready to grill or barbeque, thread the vegetables on the skewers and cook under a hot grill, on a griddle pan or a BBQ turning around so as to cook all over.
You can find this and more of Irini’s recipes, from appetisers and desserts to vegan options and quick treats at Irini Cooks, or you can take a look at her monthly contributions to our Food and Drink channel.
About the Author / Irini Tzortzoglou
