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 like to try this nacho recipe on my brother, hes so skeptical about vegan food or anything that may be healthier for him. And the cookbook sounds great!
Recipes look amazing! Id love a chance to win!
Hey I’m new to actually commenting on one of your posts but definitely not new to your blob. I love your posts and journey to good health, it’s inspired me to live a much healthier lifestyle as well :).
Thanks for all the recipes and great advice!
I would love to win the cookbook! I have been on the lookout for a good vegan or vegetarian cookbook to buy myself to try to cook without meat more often!
Everything you make looks soooo good. I think I need to try this dip!
That dip looks amazing! I love that it’s cheesy but made of beans.
Funny story – last night I made your Pumpkin Cheeze sauce for dinner. I kept saying we were going to have mac n cheese for dinner and my hubby was looking at me weird. I asked why and he said it was because he thought we were having Pumpkin Sauce, not cheese. So then as I was cooking it, I gave him a spoonful to taste. He got this happy smile on his face and said, “This tastes like cheese!!” I just laughed and told him of course it does! But it’s even more delicious! Thanks for the recipe! We loved it.
I LOVE reading cookbooks…especially vegan ones…it is amazing the wonderful world of healthy food that can be created…This is one book I don’t have yet and would love too!:)
I’d love to win this!!! :) Thanks for hosting this great giveaway!!
I love trying new recipes, especially if they have been modified into a healthier version. This cookbook looks like it would have some great recipes!
I would LOVE to make those Fruity Cereal Bars! Look delicious.
p.s. PICK ME!
these all look scrum-dili-upcious!
Just checked out the Happy Herbivore website. The recipes look so good and simple. Those are the best ways to get people to eat healthy and vegan! The cookbook looks awesome, would look to check it out!
I’d love to win! The recipes look very yummy!
Oh gosh! I would like to have more of these recipes to fool a man (and children!).
I’ve recently discovered the Happy Herbivore blog and the recipes have great appeal. I would love the cookbook with all the photos– I’m definitely a visual cook :)
Hola! Have a beautiful Weekend!
Impressive! The pictures make the food look REALLY good. I would like to try the recipes in her cookbook. Thanks for the chance.
oh em gee that dip looks incredible. & the fruit bars!! soy fan right heeerrreee, would love this book!! :D
Who couldn’t use another cookbook, ESPECIALLY one that looks as good as this one! Yum!!!!
Those dishes look amazing, I’d especially like to try the fruit bars!