Let’s get something straight: people LOVE their pizza. With over 3 billion pizzas sold in the United States each year, pizza lands itself amongst the most popular dishes year after year after year.  Some people even consider pizza an entire food group, and come to think of it, I have actually never met a person that didn’t like pizza! And for good reason: it is really delicious! It is savoury, comforting and satisfying. It hits all of the right spots, and while I personally don’t consider pizza an entire food group, I must admit that I love it too! A lot.

Pizza is the perfect party food and always a crowd pleaser, so when I started thinking about what I’d be serving at my Super Bowl party this year, I knew I had to include it on the menu. But I couldn’t stop there; no pizza is complete without a creamy garlic dip. Any of my memories of pizza pre-going-vegan always included a creamy garlic dip, and so I started experimenting to recreate the dip I once loved. The recipe below not only replicates the dip I used to get from pizza chains, I think it improves it! It is carnivore approved, devoured every time it’s made and requested each and every get together we have. I do warn you though, there is enough garlic to ward off vampires! So if you and your guests aren’t heavily into garlic like we are, start off with less in your recipe and work your way up. 

Growing up in a Hungarian household, cabbage rolls were a frequent dish on our dinner table. I have distinct memories of the Hungarian tastes and warm feelings of family spending time together over a good meal. I will never forget my grandmother and great aunts making this classic dish and as much as I loved it so many years ago, I’d never consider eating it now for the simple reason that it is not vegan. Not even close. 

For years, I’ve avoided making cabbage rolls, as I thought they were a lot of work. The rolling of cabbage leaves was a daunting task for me and I could never bring myself to attempt it…. until this week. I had no plans of making cabbage rolls at all, but while I was perusing the produce isles at the grocery store, there was something about the cabbage that screamed “use me!”. Can’t say that’s happened before, but suddenly I had an urge to make cabbage rolls. I had no idea how and no time to make them, but I felt compelled. And so I went… picked up a large cabbage and went home to experiment. Thankfully, the once daunting task to me, wasn’t actually daunting at all. I am pleased to say that making stuffed cabbage rolls is actually MUCH easier than I expected. 

If there is one dish that gets me through the winter, its soup – specifically, butternut squash soup. I tend to hibernate during the winter. I’m not one for winter sports and when it feels so cold outside that my face burns, I really don’t like leaving my house. You can generally find me wrapped in a cozy blanket, working away on my laptop, with a mug or bowl of something hot by my side. Can you blame me?