Potato, zucchini, cremini mushroom, cherry tomato and firm tofu marinated in spicy cajun spice blend, skewered, baked and served with buttery lemon jasmine rice.
Let’s up our summer BBQ game with these oven baked vegetable+tofu skewers served with jasmine rice infused with vegan butter and lemon juice! What better dish to have this summer than these skewers that remind us of the times where we could enjoy a meal with friends outside? The best part of this recipe is that you don’t need a BBQ machine to roast the veggies! You can cook these skewers right in your oven, and the results will be mouthwatering nonetheless.
What are we skewering?
Firm tofu- We’re using half a block of firm tofu (175g) and pressing out some of the water.
Zucchini- A classic on-the-grill vegetable, which I had to add! It does add some green to the dish.
Potato- I used red potatoes, but russet or Yukon work just as great! You may even want to use mini potatoes.
Cherry tomato- I don’t see many people skewering tomato, so I had to try it out, and to my delight, they turned out sooo juicy and flavourful! You can also use Roma tomatoes if you have them on hand.
Mushroom- Though I used cremini mushrooms, you can also use white mushrooms. I decided to add mushrooms because they too, like tomatoes, are excellent at absorbing flavour, which is quite rewarding when you bite into it!
Cajun spice blend
I decided to marinade the veggies in a mixture of cajun spices and olive oil. These spices provide a little spice to the veggies. You can use premixed cajun spice blend, or you can make your own by combining the following:
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- black pepper
- paprika
- cayenne powder
- dried oregano
- dried thyme
What’s in the rice?
We’re simply cooking jasmine rice with melted vegan butter and later adding freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper. The subtle buttery lemon flavour in the rice is a nice accompaniment to the roasted veggies.
Rundown of steps
- Cook the rice (described above)
- Toss all the veggies in a bowl with olive oil, then adding the spice and marinading for 10mins
- If you’re using wooden skewers, soak them in warm water. This will prevent the wooden sticks from burning in the oven! You do not want to skip this step.
- Skewer 1 of each veggie/tofu on one of the 6 skewers. Make sure you poke through the veggie in the middle of the piece and space them out evenly, leaving space on both sides of the skewer.
- Bake on a baking sheet at 400ºF for 20mins, flip the skewers and bake for another 10mins. When you’re flipping the skewers, be careful and use oven mitts because the skewers will be quite hot! You can also use a spatula to aid the flipping.
- Once the rice is done cooking, go ahead and add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the slightly cooled skewers with the rice.
FAQ
In case you missed it from when I mentioned it above, soaking wooden skewers prevent them from burning and catching on fire when baked or roasted. If you’re using metal skewers, you can omit this step.
I know most people just brush on the flavouring after the veggies are on the stick, but by marinading them in a bowl beforehand, they can absorb the flavours better. Trust me, it’s worth the 10 minute marinading time!
Absolutely! Some other spice blends I can think of include: Italian spice, greek spice, bbq spice and taco spice. You can even bake the veggies plane and add your favourite sauces after baking!
Have any questions regarding this recipe? Feel free to comment down below and I will answer to the best of my abilities! Don’t forget to share this recipe with your friends and family and tag me on Instagram @foodbylingling if you make these skewers. I would love to see how they turned out. 🙂
Check out my vegan summer recipes collection so far:
- Creamy Vegan Potato Salad Sandwich (another great outdoor food)
- Slushy Virgin Cosmopolitan
- Fruits & Nuts Salad with Fresh Mint and Lemon Juice
- Strawberry Peach Scones with Vegan White Chocolate Drizzle
Skewered Vegetables on Buttery Lemon Rice (vegan)
Ingredients
Buttery Lemon Rice
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup vegan butter, melted
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Skewered vegetables
- 2 medium potatoes, diced, *see notes
- ½ medium zucchini, diced, *see notes
- 4 large cremini mushrooms, halved
- 6 cherry tomatoes, or 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 175g firm tofu, pressed and diced, *see notes
- 1 tbsp cajun spice blend, *see notes for list of spices
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Other
- More lemon wedges to serve , optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and set oven racks to the middle-top.
- Add the rice, water and melted butter into a rice cooker. The lemon juice will be added later.
- Combine all the cut veggies in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and toss until all wedges are coated. Sprinkle in the cajun spice blend and toss until all wedges are coated. Marinade for 10mins.
- Meanwhile, if you're using wooden skewers, place them in warm water to soak. This will prevent the skewers from burning in the oven. If you're using metal skewers, you can omit this step.
- Using your hands, skewer one of each veggie/ tofu onto 1 skewer. Repeat until you have 6 skewers. Place the skewers on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 20mins. Remove from oven, carefully flip the skewers and bake for another 10 mins.
- Once the rice is done cooking, add the lemon juice and mix well. Keep warm while the skewers are cooking.
- Allow the skewers to cool slightly before serving with the cooked rice and more lemon wedges if desired.
Notes
- For each of the veggies/ tofu, cut each into 6 pieces so that each of the 6 skewers can have 1 of each veggie. See how I cut my veggies by reading the blog above.
- If you don’t have a rice cooker to cook the rice, I would recommend searching how to cook rice in a saucepan if you’ve never done so.
- If you’re using metal skewers, be careful not to touch the skewers right after you take them out of the oven, as they will be very hot.
- See blog above for how to make your own cajun spice blend.
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