Zach's Garlic Lime Barbecue Sauce

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, I shall say that yesterday truly ranked among The Great Weekends of All Time. Despite working on Saturday night, I had such a great night at work that I arrived home Sunday morning feeling energized rather than exhausted, so instead of scooting into bed to take a nap I changed into shorts and a tee-shirt, and Zach and I drove to a nearby park to play tennis! It had been 4 years since I last played, so I was more than a little rusty, but it felt sensational to run, leap, and volley in the morning sun.

Returning home, we showered, changed, and then had a grilling afternoon! One of our favorite weekend pastimes has rapidly become an elongated, unhurried, leisurely afternoon beside the grill, sharing crisp cold IPAs and chatting about everything. When Zach grills I become the sous-chef, which I love. I prepped trays and trays of veggies on the patio table while Zach worked his magic with a marinade and basting sauce he began concocting three days in advance...

Zach's Garlic Lime Barbecue Sauce

* Zach is a completely intuitive cook, somehow always having a nearly psychic sense of the amounts and flavors to combine, and thus his recipes - and sauces in particular - emerge without any ingredient quantities to note, despite my attempts to watch and approximate his measurements. Consequently, this recipe entirely employs the "to taste" method... :-)

** Onion juice and garlic juice are 2 of our favorite ingredients for powerfully flavored marinades and sauces... Zach highly recommends them!

1 T butter or light vegan marg
1 onion, minced
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Brown Sugar
Honey
Mustard
Liquid Smoke

Lime Juice
Minced garlic
Garlic Juice
Onion Juice
Cajun Seasoning

~ To make you basic barbecue sauce, saute the onion in the butter or vegan marg in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until the onion is limp and translucent. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the ketchup, cider vinegar, and brown sugar, honey, mustard, and liquid smoke to taste.
~ Remove the barbecue sauce from the heat, allow it to cool, then stir in generous splashes of lime juice, minced garlic, garlic juice, onion juice, Cajun seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.
~ Your resulting sauce will be glorious for marinading pre-grilling and basting during grilling... We use it to coat chicken, tofu, tempeh, hamburgers, asparagus, mushrooms, and my personal favorite, thick slices of eggplant! It's also delicious for making baked dishes in the oven too, such as baked chicken, baked tofu, or baked eggplant...

(Our kitties want to wish a very Happy Father's day to Zach, their Human-Dad... :-)