The Mediterranean summer is very hot and dry. Nevertheless, it is incredibly rich in summer produce, including vegetables like zucchini, eggplant, peppers, leafy greens, green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers as some examples. As a Portuguese vegan that’s part of this culture and has a big backyard vegetable garden all summer, I will share my 5 favorite summer Mediterranean vegan recipes that are naturally vegan or are easily veganized. This is perfect for vegans or anyone who wants to try a different traditional cuisine that’s healthy and plant-based! Since they are light and fresh, these vegan summer recipes are great if you are looking for easy summer dinner ideas to enjoy the last days of summer.
- Gazpacho
- Vegan Mediterranean Barbecue
- Salads
- Mediterranean summer ratatouille
- Portuguese brás-style leeks
The Mediterranean Diet
A Healthy Diet
You’ve probably heard before that the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest ones. This diet is classified as a world heritage diet by UNESCO, is recognized by the World Health Organization as healthy and sustainable, and is one of the healthy eating plans recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Characteristics of the Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is composed of a lot of fruits and vegetables, dried and fresh legumes (like chickpeas, beans, lentils, etc), a lot of bread and cereals, some dried nuts, herbs, and the famous olive oil.
It is a diet based on the traditional cuisine of the countries that border the mediterranean sea, including plenty of vegetables, fruits, and crops produced in these regions. Even though this diet includes some animal products, there are lots of naturally vegetarian meals, and most of the recipes are incredibly easy to veganize!
What Mediterranean vegans eat in the summer
The Mediterranean diet is an umbrella term that comprises the cuisine of all the countries that border the mediterranean sea, but of course, each one has its own individuality. Even though Portugal is not technically next to this sea, we are part of the Mediterranean cuisine and these recipes are the ones I eat most in the summer as a Portuguese Mediterranean vegan.
Mediterranean Season Vegetables
Vegan summer Mediterranean recipes include, of course, plants that are produced in the Mediterranean Summer. Coming from the Portuguese countryside, I grew up with this type of gastronomy, in the most privileged way: every year, my family grows plenty of vegetables in our backyard. So even before becoming vegan, I was eating mostly plants and veggies on a daily basis!
We all know it’s better to consume local season vegetables for sustainability reasons while having the benefits of preserving the nutrients and being cheaper. Moreover, I love producing my own vegetables because the taste is richer than store-bought ones and I know that they’re organic and sustainable.
The truth about having a vegetable garden
For people who live in the countryside in Portugal, having a vegetable garden is actually a common thing. To summarize, there’s plenty of land available, the climate is really good for agriculture (if you have enough available water) and the soil is fertile.
But of course, it involves a lot of time and work. For instance, you have to prepare the land, plant the seeds, water the plants every day, take out the weeds frequently, and so on. Despite that, I think it’s totally worth it, and taking care of the plants is even a relaxing activity that you can enjoy!
The best part of it is to have the vegetables right there. So when you want to cook something, you just have to go outside and pick the ripest, colorful fresh veggie and cook something right away. Here are some pictures of my homegrown vegetables:
Mediterranean summer vegan recipes
So… what do I do with all these vegetables? I like to cook quick and easy meals and these are the ones I eat the most in the summer:
1. Gazpacho
Gazpacho is one of the most famous Mediterranean summer recipes, that’s naturally vegan. It is part of the traditional Spanish gastronomy and it’s also a common Portuguese dish, consumed especially in the south. Basically, it is a cold tomato soup, ideal for the hot days as a summer side dish or as a starter to refresh and prepare the stomach for more incredible Mediterranean food to share with your friends and family!
This cold soup is one of my favorite dishes and the best thing about it is that it just takes 15 minutes to prepare. However, if you think that cold soup is not for you, and you’d prefer a warmer soup to get your tomatoes used, you can also try this Creamy tomato basil soup instead.
The ingredients are:
- 750g tomatoes
- 1 red bell pepper
- ½ green bell pepper
- One small cucumber
- 1 small onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 5 tbsp vinegar
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Olive oil
- Ice
How to do it:
- In a mixer, blend the tomatoes, peppers, peeled cucumber, onion, and garlic.
- Season with salt and pepper, add vinegar and olive oil. Blend the mixture again until smooth.
- Finally, add the ice cubes and blend everything again.
- Ready to serve in bowls.
2. Vegan Mediterranean summer barbecue
In Portugal, barbecues and picnics are a big thing in the summer. Hence, friends and family get together and celebrate with a barbecue with fresh beer or wine, even better if near a pool or the beach!
A lot of these barbecues include a lot of animal products, but I’m grateful that there are plenty of amazing plants that you can just put in the grill and make an amazing vegan barbecue. What’s more, I love to invite all my meat-eating friends to join me for vegan barbecues and impress them with all the veggies that taste amazing in the grill.
Ingredients:
When I make a barbecue, I use mostly our homegrown vegetables. Above all, the ones I use the most are zucchini, eggplant, green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Although, you can use your imagination and grill whatever plants you want. For example asparagus, leek, or even carrots.
In order to add some protein to the meal, you can also grill some vegan sausages or burgers, or combine it with these amazing Savory tofu bites.
How to do it:
Even though it’s not rocket science to make a barbecue, there are definitely some tricks to perfection.
1. Start by grilling the peppers before the other vegetables. Then wash them and put them whole in the grill. You should leave them in the fire until they get dark (like in the picture). Then, remove the skin with the help of cold water and cut them into slices.
2. Cut the zucchini and the eggplant in slices. In this case, you want to keep the slices not too thin so you can move it around and not too thick so it can cook well on the inside.
3. Grill everything and serve with any side dishes like bread, snacks, or other cooked foods.
My super simple and savory homemade sauce:
The sauce I make at home has only 3 ingredients and it tastes amazing with grilled veggies.
Ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Chopped garlic or garlic paste
- Oregano
- Salt to taste (optional)
3. Mediterranean summer vegan salads
Mediterranean Summer Vegan Recipes always include salads. On the whole, the Mediterranean typical salad base always includes lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Then, it can be complemented with several different options, according to the vegetables available and your creativity. Usually, when I’m looking for a quick easy meal, a summer salad is my first choice. Usually, I add cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, radish, carrots, and even apple bites. To add protein, I love adding tofu to my salads, chickpeas, or beans. When making a salad you can really throw in almost everything, just look at what you have and try different things!
4. Mediterranean Summer Vegan Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a traditional french recipe made with summer season vegetables. Actually, I usually make an easier version of it, that’s a quick one-pot vegan dinner recipe that I think it’s as good, and this is it:
Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- Olive oil
- Pepper
- Oregano
- Thyme
How to do it:
- In a pan, pour a drizzle of olive oil and saute the onion and garlic. Then add the oregano, bay leaves, and the tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper.
- Take out the bay leaves, cut all the vegetables in slices, and add them. Cover the pot so the vegetables can cook.
- Finally, season with olive oil, salt, oregano, pepper, and thyme to taste.
5. Brás-style Leeks
This is a very traditional Portuguese dish, originally made with codfish, but even my non-vegan friends say that my vegan version is even better!
Ingredients:
- Olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 leeks
- 250 firm tofu
- 3 potatoes
- 3 onions
- Black olives
- 20ml vegan soy or oat cream
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh parsley
- Nutritional yeast (optional)
How to do it:
- Cut the leek and onions in thin slices.
- Peel the potatoes, and wash them and cut into thin sticks. Then you can fry them in oil, or grill them in the oven.
- Put the cut onions in a pan with the bay leaf and saute with olive oil. When it’s brown, put the leeks and the tofu and mix.
- Next, add the potatoes.
- Add the vegan cream and nutritional yeast. Optionally, you can also add a bit of water or vegan milk so the texture gets more creamy.
- Finally, season with black pepper, salt, fresh parsley and add the olives for decoration.
If you want something different than Mediterranean summer vegan recipes, you can try other recipes below:
If you want to try other recipes, check out these ones:
Need a dessert to complement your summer Mediterranean meals? Try this Vegan keto ice cream.
We hope these recipes motivate you to try the Mediterranean cuisine and to have new food experiences before summer ends!
About the author: Ana Barreiro is a Portuguese animal lover who’s passionate about using her creativity to make a positive change in the world. Besides her work as a digital marketer, she also loves writing and illustration. Check out her portfolio here.
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