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 all looks shamshing! I would love to have a copy of the book, I might finally learn to cook something that some one who isn’t me will eat!
I really want this book. Thanks for the chance to win it.
The dip looks so good. I’d love to try it!
Wow what a fab giveaway. It is always brilliant when people think vegan (or veggie) food is just lovely, instead of thinking it is something weird made of sprouts and lentils and nothing else.
Bars and Nachos look amazing! I would love to have a copy of the book.
Thanks, Gini.
As you say, you make “vegan” look very appetizing. I’m not vegan or vegaratarian, but I do try your recipe ideas. Thanks for the opportunity to participate.
I agree most certainly the hardest group to please have you thought of trying to make vegan faux chicken wings… common request that I get would love a copy of the book thanks and have a great weekend!!
Great nachos dip recipe – will have to test this one out on the guys and see if they notice it’s vegan ;)
i have recently been cooking more vegetarian and would love the book!!!! :):):):)
Just when I was telling myself that I shouldn’t buy any more cookbooks!! Ahhh, now I need this one too. Everything looks super yummy.
Would be really happy to win the cookbook, I want to learn to cook more versatile recipes ;)
yum, those nachos look amazing!
I have both of her cookbooks in my wishlist. Christmas is a long time to wait for such scrumptious foods. It would be great to have an early secret santa!
The recipes look great!
The book sounds great!
Yeah!
I love that vegan is the code for really awesome food! I need help in that department!!! This cookbook would be a great help! Thanks for a fantastic blog and incredible inspiration! You truly are inspiring, Angela!
I can so relate to that situation. More than once, I’ve had people either suspiciously poke at food I’ve made or not-so-secretly send out a scout to try it first before reporting back if it’s edible. And while that daunted me at first, I’ve actually grown to love it. It’s a challenge every time. And while changing minds and erasing doubts about vegan and gluten-free food is definitely smirk-inducing, the real satisfaction at the heart of it is being able to provide delicious and nourishing food that everyone can enjoy, regardless of dietary constraints.
Have a great weekend!
i would LOVE a copyof that book! looks amazing!!
ooh, i would love to win :)
Thanks for reviewing some of the Happy Herbivore recipes, and a chance to win the book! I’ve been dying to try this one out for a while now. Any suggestions on substitutes for nutritional yeast though? I have severe adverse reactions to glutamate (sp?) and that type of yeast is pretty high in naturally occurring glutamates. Thanks! :)