How do you stay plant based at a BBQ?
Hi - Rugby World Cup 2023 is finally over and won.
Rugby is a part of our culture. Rugby is in the DNA of South Africans!
Where there is rugby, there is boerewors braai. Braaivleis (meat BBQ) is also a part of our culture.
Boerewors is a spiced beef sausage from South Africa and “braai” is our word for BBQ - although it is done with embers from woodfire or charcoal - not gas.
Although in the UK, I still managed to elicit an invitation to a boerewors braai and to watch the South African Springboks play the All Blacks of New Zealand in the final of this gruelling tournament.
It’s wonderful to get together with one’s fellow countrymen to support the national team in a world tournament. Especially when in a foreign country.
How does one avoid the temptation to eat meat in such a situation? The aroma of that boerewors sizzling, making my salivary glands pour forth in preparation from childhood memory.
Over the last few years I have learned a few strategies to standing fast at a braai/BBQ on a plant-based high raw lifestyle:
Substitute. Take your favourite veggie treat to roast over the coals. I like to take a big brown mushroom. It gives that umami taste that satisfies the expectation my mouth has for those meat memories the aromas have aroused.
Eat before you go or at least make the last meal at home a filling one so that hunger won’t make you succumb to those coronary-causing aromas.
Offer to bring the salad. Often a mushroom or corn-on-the-cob substitute won’t be enough and if a salad is on offer it is usually not large enough for the amount I need to eat. As the salad provider I can bring a whole punch bowl of salad and know without a doubt there will be enough for myself …and the other guests.
Make your salad dense. I shred my lettuce finely and everything that goes into my salad is julienned or diced so that more can fit into the bowl and on my plate. Also, less chewing?
Bring along a snack platter to keep you busy while the BBQ is braaing. Fresh fruit plate with a tahini dip or veggie crudites. This will keep the wolves at bay.
I heard that the litany amongst the South African team during this RWC 2023 tournament was “salads don’t score trys” or something like that… It made me smile. Their very iconic symbol of a Springbok lives on salad. Nevertheless, our team did us proud - they battled hard, conquering tough opponents. They came through, battle-worn but smiling, as they made history and won the championship for the fourth time. The only team in the world to have done this.
Excuse this diversion into a blood sport. As our esteemed Springbok Captain, Siya Kolisi, said at the press conference after the match:
“People who are not from South Africa don’t understand what it means for our country. It is not just about the game. Our country goes through such a lot. We are just grateful that we can be here. I want to tell the people of South Africa ‘thank you so much’.
This team shows what you can do. As soon as we work together, all is possible, no matter in what sphere - in the field, in the offices, it shows what we can do. I am grateful for this team, I am so proud of it.”
Live well and find the happy,
Merryl @ GreenSmoothie.com
P.S. Share your BBQ strategies on our chat.
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