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 a new vegan and LOVE this website :) Scarfed down your overnight oats for breakfast this morning and can’t wait to try a bunch more recipes.
Yum, I’d love to have that cookbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The nacho dip looks amazing!
Ohh that recipe book looks fabulous! Also – your burritos sound so delicious, I’ve tagged them to make later this week. Thanks!
Love it… the Nacho dip looks amazing ! Yum Yum
ooooh. This would be great to start my collection of vegan cookbooks. My family tends to ignore the vegan section of my wish list for books. “You’re not vegan” they say . “Yeah, but I want to cook like one” :D
Oh, this book has been on on the top of my Amazon wish list for such a long time now! I’m not fully vegan, mostly because of my family, but I loove to cook vegan!
so many delicious sounding recipes!
this book looks so great! i must say that nachos are one of the few treats i miss since going vegan, but these look like a fantastic substitute
I would love to have this cookbook. My husband and I have been trying to eat more vegetarian meals and this would give us lots of great recipes to choose from. He got me the Cooking light Vegetarian cookbook last Christmas and we’ve loved everything we’ve made from there. If you haven’t gotten that one yet it’s a must have! :)
I would love the cookbook!
Cookbooks = awesome. My husband thinks veganism is Satanic because of all the replacements in it. Replacement cheese, milk, meat, etc. He says it all reminds him of what he’s missing. Your nachos would be perfect for such a man!
Also, love you and your blog. You’re amazing.
mmmmm those nachos look sooooo good!! I’ve been looking for a good chip&dip/nacho recipe, I may have to give this one a try soon. :)
Oh!! It all looks so good!! Especially those bars and the nachos … if I don’t win that book I’ll have to buy it!
Oh my.. those oat bars look absolutely amazzzzing!
I am new to being vegan and am just trying to get my bearings. I saw som of the delicios recipes you have and am eager to try this new way of life!
I’d love this book! Cooking makes me happy, and trying to make things that my bf will eat that don’t have meat in them makes me even happier (not veg or vegan, but too much disagrees with me)
How serendipitus for me to find your blog last month. I feel like a sponge and have read your blog and tried so many recipes!! I am new to the vegan lifechange. I am diabetic and have seen my sugars drop a phenominal 6 points in one month. I am looking for a great book that would give me ideas for variety. I am starting at ground zero with buying all my products. I love this new way of eating. I feell energetic and excited for the first time in my life. I have tried every diet possible with little success. I have lost 5 pounds in the last month and my middle has gone down a few inches. I have a clarity in my brain that I have never had before. I want to tell everyone I meet about this new change in my life. My husband is such a cheerleader for me as I start this new journey of wellness. Thank you for being a beacon of light to me. I am so excited to make my own crackers. Don’t stop blogging!
Jo-Anne
I’ve been cooking out of this book recently. Lindsay’s straight, no nonsense approach to food is refreshing. I would recommend this book for anyone who is a beginner cook/vegan or someone trying to stay on a budget without buying all the fancy pre-made vegan foods on the market.
Yum! Your game food looks declicious – sounds like a great cookbook! Thanks for sharing! :)
The dip looks amazing!
Ooh- those nachos look super tasty! I would really love to win this prize! Crossing my fingers!
Holy cow! I am a new vegan and have been eating only fresh veggies, cooked veggies, beans and rice until I heard of the Happy Herbivore. I would love a copy to look at the pics while cooking. As for the boys, I am trying to convert them and you and Lindsay Nixon may just be able to do it. Thanks for the Blog!
I would LOVE a copy of that book! I’m just now starting to compile vegan cookbooks; I have tons of recipes on my bookmarks but could use something to keep in my kitchen!
Hi thank you for all the great ideas! I would love a chance to be the owner of the book
I’ve become addicted to your site and love to share your recipes (with some of my twists) with my clients! Thank you for posting this awesome Game Day fare as it’s my turn to host this week! Looking forward to making all this deliciousness- along with the AMAZING vegan & gf brownies!!! They are incredible!!!
I Love Nachos. I’d love to win that cookbook too!
I just learned about his website from a friend and I am totally in love! I can’t wait to try all of these new recipes!!! I am going to start at least one vegan night a week! Thanks!
I am looking for cookbooks to bring to college and this one looks perfect! yumm; those cereal bars look delicious too(:
I love this! Sharing vegan food with the skeptical and then having them say, “OMG, this is Vegan?!” is the best!! Such a better way to share veganism, rather than the negative preaching route! Go girl! :)
-Heather
would love to have this cookbook, and try the “cheesy” dip!
WOW that looks YUMMY!!!
I found your website a month ago! I had to do a major overhall with my diet, doing a lot of clean eating. Your recipies are great! I’m hopefully going to make your pumpkin mac n cheese sauce tomorrow night!
I suppose I will throw my hat into the ring! The nachos look great, and so do the bars.
A friend of mine posted your site on FB, I love the great recipes you have to offer. Thanks for such a great site to come to.
Hi Angela. Love your recipes. I’m a new vegan and have the added joy of a husband who refuses to even try anything that doesn’t have “meat” in it (we won’t tell him about the time he ate “seitan” and had no idea). This book sounds great, and would give me new ideas to stay on track – maybe I’ll win him over eventually!
Oh my goodness! I have been wondering about this cookbook for a while. I’ve tried some in the past and I’ve found that I can make up almost everything in them without the recipes. I’d love to try out the HHC though! (that dip looks incredible…..)
I just made her black bean brownies! Yummy!
Oh girl! I made your walnut lentil loaf for dinner tonight! it is fabulous…my husband and I love it. I served it with roasted potatoes and carrots. thank you for all your research to make this loaf perfect. I can’t wait to takeit to the next potluck at church. Thank you so much for this website. keep up the good work. I have been a vegetarian for 2 years and vegan for just a couple of months. You make it all easier and tastier !!! thanks again. glenda
glad to hear that!!
wow! that cookbook looks like itd be fantastic! as a fairly new vegetarian, i am always looking to try new yummy recipes!
I love happy herbivore! YUM!
Happy Herbivore sounds amazing! I adore your blog…please keep inspiring me :)
Have been trying to go vegan for a while now im still Vegeterian its not easy but i have to say your recepies have helpes a great deal i love them! there so eay and all ingridients are easy to find. Im gonna try and make the Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos. My moth is watering as im reading the recepie :) love your website and your recepies.. Book looks amaxing with a ton of yummy recepies hope i win.. (crossing my fingers)
great giveaway!
Wow. This book sounds like exactly what I need!
Those bars look yummy!
I think even if I don’t win this, I will have to purchase this book! Everything looks amazing!
Yum! This is what I need to get my meat-loving boyfriend on the vegan train! :)
I love your website. Enjoy reading your story/journey anad of course the food and recipes! Yum! I have been playing around with the vegetarain/vegan lifetsyle for a few years, but having just moved from Boston, MA USA to LA, CA, I am ready to dive in further – an experiment if you will. Linsday’s book “The Happy Herbivore” would be an awesome piece to help get me started with exploring more receipes and a my new “eating/food” lifestyle. I was actually checking it out and voila! you were offerring a “giveaway”! Yea! Many thanks for sharing and considering me:-) Be welll – cheers!
I would love to have this book! I started eating vegan about 2 months ago and thought it was going to be extremely challenging to adhere to. However, thanks to your blog I’ve been able to try exciting recipes and never get bored of what I’m eating. Thank you so much!
Always looking for new vegan cookbooks… Although your blog has lessen the need to buy one in a while!
My husband is vegan and I’m always looking for great tasting recipes that we can all enjoy. My son (8) and I try to eat the way he does a few times a week.