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!