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.
That dip sounds so good! I just don’t tell people that they’re eating something vegan or sometime gluten-free and congratulate myself when they say it’s amazing.
That dip…. Omg. I want it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The cookbook would make my dreams come true!
These recipes look awesome! I’d love to try them and add this great cookbook to my collection!
This cookbook looks great!
The nachos look delicious! I recently became aware of my sensitivities to animal products (in addition to my gluten sensitivity, I’m really a joy of a dinner guest) so I’ve been on the look out for new recipes to add to my repertoire.
yummm!!!!! Those nachos look delicious! I would love to try them :)
that dip looks amazing! i’m pretty sure my husband would fall for it :) it would also be great to try to some more vegan recipes that are low- fat.
I am new to your blog and new to the vegan world. All of the recipes you have posted that I’ve tried are absolutely delicious. I look forward to coming here every morning.
Wow!!! This whole post sounds so yummy!!! I love to try anything new, and this cookbook would get used aplenty! Thank you for all your posts and giving us the opportunity to win this cookbook.
Have a nice weekend,
Jessica
Angela, you had me up until you said the word “Leafs”….lol! (GO WINGS!!!). My brother is a die hard Leafs fan so we have a friendly rivalry between us; we would definitely enjoy some of these recipes for the next Leafs/Wings game. I always pray the Wings will win or I have to prepare for the harassment I will get from him : ) I just made the roasted tomato, garlic and onion coconut soup and the roasted tomato pesto….soooo delish!! Thanks for the great recipes and inspirational stories.
Well done you, I’m still trying to convince my hubby that vegan is the way forward. He’s the cook in our house and we use so many of your recipes, and it’s all helping :-)
True, guys tend to be a little hesitant at the mention of anything vegan. That dip would make any man a believer, though. Looks absolutely delicious!
I’ve had my eye on this cookbook forever! Thanks for doing the giveaway!
That dip looks so delicious. Can’t wait to try it. :)
I love Lindsay’s recipes! Happy Herbivore was one of the first food sites I found a couple years ago when I started eating healthier. I made her white bean chocolate chip cookies. Delish :)
I would love to try some recipes from cookbook!
Yumm!! would love to win a copy!! thanks Angela! (and I appreciate a contest open to CANADIAN readers!!!)
I love cookbooks.
I just discovered your blog a few weeks ago…. thanks so much for it! I have already made a number of things (parsnip nut butter fries are my favourite!) I may put “cook my way through the oh she glows blog” on my bucket list!!! Thank so much, I am sure it is a lot of work but hoping its a labour of love.
Cooking away in Calgary…
Love her recipes!