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 can’t remember if I commented or not so I’m going to leave another or a new one. I hope you post the recipes for the snacks as I’m always looking for some great ones for football season. I also really want that cookbook to continue to help me on our family’s journey to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. My 3 year old just had his well check and got an A+++. Our doctor said he was in extraordinary health and was thrilled with our choice to raise him as a veghead:) I thank you for keeping me inspired with new meals that our son LOVES!
SO excited to have found your blog! I’ve been a vegetarian for a few years, as has my boyfriend – these recipes are an awesome way to accommodate his lactose-intolerance! Thank you!!
Great giveaway Angela!
Those nachos look AMAZING.
Hi Angela,
Do you have the recipe for the cereal bars? They look great!
I would love to experiment with vegan recipes from this cookbook. The dip you made looks amazing and so “cheesy”.
Those cereal bars look fantastic! I’d love to try out this book. :)
Those cereal bars look awesome!
The dip and bars looks out of this world! Thanks Angela :)
*Fingers crossed*
I want to that dip! And I want the book :D
Wow- this book is just what I need to make my guy some vegan football snacks! That dip looks amazing!
Yay..a new cookbook. Love new reads!
Hi Angela! I could definitely use this cookbook. ;-) I tried going vegan for a few months earlier in the year. Alas, I have a hubby (who has been great about trying my vegan experiements), and two boys (ages 5&7) who I’ve accidentally sent running the other way. They LOVE meat and cow’s milk; now more than ever. I would really love to get re-energized on eliminating animal products from our diet. Husband and I are also both runners. Going vegan is the best way of eating for us. Thank you!!
Thanks for doing a giveaway! I’d love to try making those fruity bars.
Oh my goodness – I’m still addicted to your green monsters! I’m new to this lifestyle and am finding my way through it. A new cookbook would help!! :)
That book looks amazing!!
I am converting my diet into a more plant based diet. AWESOME recipes like these would make it easier on my carnivore boy and husband! I NEEEED this book! : )
Great idea! If you can impress the hockey fans in your life with vegan snacks, I have hope for the Alabama foitball fans in mine!
The book looks great!!
I’m starting to incorporate more veganised meals into my life, and thus the life of my husband too. At first he really missed the meat but he’s slowly coming around to the idea of other sources of protein and he’s always really surprised with the taste of the meals and the way they fill him up!