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.
LOVE your site. Sent all of my clients and facebook followers a link to your site, and specifically your pumpkin smoothie this week. Thanks for all the great stuff. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win this, as my family is experimenting more with vegan options, as are more and more of my clients!
Cheers!!
LOVE the “game night” items. Ur right men are usually harder to win over on the vegan theme. Sounds yummy! The book sounds fab! ;o)
I’m drooling over that dip-gotta have it! :)
That dip looks fantastic! I can’t wait to try it– I am always interested in cheese-tasting foods that don’t involve cheese- this looks like a winner!
The book looks amazing! I need something healthy but fun for a bunch of 10 year olds after their football game. Wonder if the book has any suggestions? Thanks for sharing.
I have to those fruit bars!
The dip looks AMAZING! i always envy the excitement my friends get upon ordering nachos…now i can experience it myself!
I would love to make that dip – your post has me feeling hungry! I love a great cookbook, even just to read – something with tried-tested-true reviews, even better :)
That dip looks great! I gotta try making that cheeze sauce one of these days!
The book looks awesome! So, obviously, I’d LOVE to win and eat that yummy looking cereal bar :D
My family loves your mac and chhez and veggie burgers. Would love to make these nachos with cheez sauce!
Wow, your recipes and photos are always so inspiring! I just love your blog!
More healthy cooking ideas are always welcome!!
I have been following your blog for some time and your recipes are right up there with HH’s – when are you going to publish your cookbook?
That said, I would love to win a copy of the HH one as well!
I’d love to win this!! I follow both Lindsay’s and your blog!!
“Open to anyone, anywhere”??? Amazing!! I’m in for this contest.
Regards,
Samantha
Hey Angela! I’m a reader all the way from Sydney, Oz and reading your blog has been so inspiring. I’ve always liked to try out recipes that are fat-free, low-sugar, healthy and tasty, and I’ve realised that I was actually leaning towards a vegetarian/vegan diet all along! And because of all your delicious recipes, the funny thing is that I’m now stocking up on heaps of apples, cinnamon and pumpkin – which would be right for autumn in Canada, but it’s actually spring/summer here in Australia, so my uni friends think I’m a little crazy! I’d love to win the Happy Herbivore Cookbook, and with the help of your blog, I’m really enjoying this journey about learning to love food and be healthy all at the same time. Thank you! :)
This books looks amazing! I love cooking and while not vegan or even vegetarian I cook a lot of meat free meals and am starting to experiment with vegan dishes as well. This book would be a great help, might have to buy it even if I don’t win. :)
Just made the ultimate vegan walnut loaf last night… so good! Would love to win a cookbook, but if not, I’m happy using your recipes!
I love reading your blog and trying your recipes and would love to win the cookbook!!!