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 would LOVE to win the Happy Herbivore cookbook! I’m currently in treatment for anorexia, but I have a real passion for vegan cooking, and I’m trying to lessen my fears and anxieties associated with food by exploring new recipes. I read this blog every day and your ability to overcome your disorder and be happy, healthy, and to love food inspires me to try to get better so I can be like you. Thank you. :)
Everything looks amazing! I’d love to dig into that dip. :) Thanks for the chance to win!
Oooh, I was just looking through that cookbook at B&N the other day! Like you said, there’s almost a picture for everything, which I love! Thanks for the chance to win!
That dip looks delicious, can’t wait to try it, although don’t think I”m going to make the chips (not feeling that ambitious today!) but rather use the Trader Joe’s flaxseed chips. They are really good with nachos. Thanks for offering this book as a giveway. I’ve read about it so would love to try it out. Hope Sketchie is okay and nothing is broken. Happy almost weekend!
Thanks for the dip idea! As a newbie to healthy/vegan cooking, I love Happy Herbivore’s recipes, but there are only so many on her website. I would love to get a copy of her book to give me more ideas!
I’d love this book – her food always looks so good!
Those both look yummy! Sometimes I think the only way I’ll EVER get my husband to say something vegan tastes good is if he doesn’t know it’s vegan to start with…he is so skeptical of anything I make I think it colors his judgment.
Hooray for dips!
Such a good cookbook I’d love to own a copy. The cheater pad thai recipe in there is amazing!
Those recipes sound sooo good! I would love to win a copy of the book!
I really really would love to win the cookbook. I am going to go downstairs though and make your bars. Yum
That book sounds awesome! I always wind up making non-veg food for guests because I feel like they will think I am weird and like to torture my fiance with meals made of leaves all the time.
This book would give me some much needed inspiration!
Pick me please! :) I’m always looking for recipes my hubby will enjoy! He’s a dedicated meat eater so it’s definitley not easy.
I’m a newbie pescatarian and my husband is full vegetarian (I’m getting there, I swear!), but we do love vegan recipes around here. I would love love LOVE that cookbook! And I do love getting recipes and ideas from your blog :)
I really struggle to get my husband interested in vegan food. When I cook it, he devours it and never believes me that it’s vegan but when he’s cooking, he won’t touch the vegan recipe books with a barge pole. I think this book sounds manly enough that he would ;-)
Over the last couple of years, we have had big changes in our diet due to major health issues. One daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer and another daughter has had to be gluten free due to stomach issues. So we have been so cautious about our eating habits. We have changed to organic, vegetarian and just about anything that will keep us healthy. Now people are starting to see how bad the main stream diet is and jumping on the bandwagon to improve their lifestyle…..I myself am lactose intolerate so I would absolutely love a copy of this book to be able to keep all the girls in the family happy. Thanks for giving us this chance……..
Hey Angela!!
I love your recipes, I make them on a weekly basis (this week I made pumpkin pie brownies and pumpkin gingerbread)! This book looks great! Thanks for showing me how to make great vegan food!
Those nachos look soo delicious!
Please share the fruity cereal bar recipe!
Wow, those nachos look amazing! I’m going to have to make some sooooon :)