It’s Hockey Season and that means I’m feeding snacks to a bunch of hungry guys during our weekly game night.
Impressing the male species with vegan food is one of the biggest challenges of all. It’s not so much the taste of the food that I’m worried about; it’s more the stereotype of what vegan means to them. Often, the word vegan doesn’t evoke warm and fuzzy feelings like….beer or pizza….or nachos.
So I make nachos, spiced bar nuts, pizza, and beer fries.
Now they think vegan is just some weird code for really awesome food.
Score.
The other night I was trying to think of some “guy-friendly” snacks (oh, now I’m stereotyping!) and I came across some delicious looking snack recipes in The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon. The publisher sent me this cookbook to check out and I’ve been meaning to try it for a while now. There are all kinds of dips and appetizer recipes to choose from, in addition to breakfast, sides, entrees, appetizers, sauces/dressings, and dessert recipes. Most recipes also have a full colour photograph which is always a nice feature if you are a visual person like myself.
Lindsay specializes in fat-free and low-fat vegan recipes and you can find over 175 recipes in her cookbook. There are also a lot of tofu, tempeh, and seitan based recipes such as her Seitan Pot Roast and Fettuccine Alfredo. If you are a soy fan, you will find a lot of unique options.
For game night, I made Lindsay’s Spicy Mexican Dip (above) made up of cannellini & black beans, nutritional yeast, spices & seasonings, and a hint of lime. I was feeling feisty so I made the Nacho Cheese Sauce and swirled it into the dip before baking it for about 35-40 minutes. Amazing. The only thing I regret was not putting a layer of Daiya Cheese on top!
I served the dip with Lindsay’s Chili-Lime Corn Chips. They are very easy to make and the flavours went perfectly with the dip.
First things first, the boys thought it was actually a real cheese dip.
Secondly, the dip was gone in 10 minutes.
I forgot all about the fact that the Leafs were losing.
I also made the Fruity Cereal Bars (it’s a good thing because the dip didn’t last long) which are fat-free knock offs of those commercial cereal breakfast bars that we all know and love. I wasn’t expecting much from a fat-free cereal bar, but these were good. The oatmeal base is soft and light (a common outcome when using applesauce as a fat replacer) and the gooey jam topping made me want to eat the entire pan.
Sadly, I had to share.
I even thought about trying the the, ‘You don’t want this, trust me! It’s healthy, it’s VEGAN!’ line, but it didn’t work. My cover was already blown.
Vegan food is just a code for really awesome food, remember?
The Happy Herbivore Giveaway!
[Giveaway Finished]
If you’d like a chance to win The Happy Herbivore Cookbook leave a comment below. I’ll pick the winner on Monday and ship you a copy of this book. Open to anyone, anywhere.
I’m about to move back to Texas and this cookbook looks like it would give me some healthy alternatives to Texmex comfort food like Nachos so I’d love a copy. And I absolutely love your blog Angela. I recently found it and tried my first green monster 2 weeks ago. I am a convert. Thanks for all the inspiration you provide.
Those nachos look SO delicious. I’d love to win a copy of Linsay’s book. I may have to go lick my screen now :)
Yum! No wonder that dip was gone so fast. It looks amazing!
Wow. The dishes look delish. Thanks for sharing.
The Happy Herbivore sounds like a fantastic cookbook! Although I am not a vegan, I do cook/bake vegan on occasion, and it’s definitely hard to convince my family and friends that the food is NOT weird! Even my sister is often less than enthusiastic to try my vegan treats!
OMG, I clearly need those recipes… I’d love to win the cookbook!
Angela, is the recipe for the cereal bars anywhere on your blog? They look so good!
that dip looks amazing! Sounds like she’s got some great recipes!
-Hana
Hi,.
I would love to have that cookbook!! Cooking and trying out new recipes is almost therapeutic for me :)
That looks so tasty. Nachos with cheese are probably the comfort snack that I miss the most since becoming vegan. I have yet to find a nacho recipe that does the trick for me, so this would be fabulous ;)
As someone who eats GF, I find it really difficult to included a lot of veg or vegan foods into my diet – your blog has inspired me to branch out to see what else is there! Your postings are so creative and I usually end up testing some out throughout the week. So for this, I must say thank you for making eating adventurous again! And second, as a cook book addict, I do not yet have this one on my collection, but the reviews and recipes look great! I would love to take this one home!
A.
I would love to make that dip for my husband. I bet he wouldn’t even be able to tell it was vegan!
I have been interested in this cookbook so would love the chance to win a copy!
That dip looks delicious! As a recently transitioned vegan, I have been looking for some healthy alternatives to traditional party food. This book sounds like a good find.
Those cereal bars look so good! Yum!
I haven’t had nachos in a really long time, and I’d love to try this recipe! On another note, sort of related, I made your spiced bar nut recipe for a group picnic in High Park this summer and they were a HUGE hit!
I’m just getting into more vegan cooking, and my husband has been surprisingly willing to try everything I put in front of him (I married a good one…). But, I know he would enjoy something beyond chick peas, and it sounds like this cookbook might make us both smile!
I would love to win this! My husband is trying so hard to give up junk food and fast food, so this roils be great for us!
I agree- I always feel like I’ve won the lottery when my husband goes for seconds and thirds before I can tell him that there’s no meat or animal products in a meal! The look on his face is priceless. I think he feels like it’s a big trick. I’ll definitely have to try some of your snacks for hockey (me)/football (him) season. Thanks!
Not only am I trying to feed the guys, I have 3 teens that are not so hip on Vegetarian or Vegan foods. I would love to have this book to try out some more dishes on the bunch!