Growing chives and making chive blossom vinegar

June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

An easy way to enjoy beautiful chive flowers

We’re so excited to share this post on growing chives and making chive blossom vinegar. It is the first of a series of posts which will focus on growing herbs and then showing you interesting and easy ways to use them, where they are the star!

Growing up our parents always had a garden. When there was little outdoor space available, tomatoes and eggplant were grown in buckets on the balcony. As soon as they had access to a back yard, their garden exploded and they grew everything from asparagus to zucchini. They still keep a massive garden and we are all the benefactors of their harvest.

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Potato salad with smoked herring

April 23, 2021April 23, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A traditional Greek potato salad with smoked herring from Messinia

Σαλάτα με πατάτες και καπνιστή ρέγγα. Our parents are from Messinia, a region found in the south western part of the Peloponnese. The capital is Kalamata and it is a marvelous part of the country. Soaring mountain ranges, fertile flatlands and forests, picturesque villages, citadels, vineyards and orchards are some of what make Messenia such a rich and glorious land.

Visitors have learned that there is much that this area has to offer and tourism plays an increasingly large role in the economy. Still, this fertile area is an agricultural wonderland and crops remain the most important industry for the region. Some of the main products are olive oil, Kalamata olives, oranges, sultana raisins and figs.

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Pretty in red fruit salad

February 2, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

A perfectly delightful and beautiful fruit salad

Sure, it’s easy enough to grab an apple or a handful of grapes and call it a day, but if you’re looking for a way to really celebrate fresh fruit, we think that a fruit salad is the way to do it.

Fruit salads have endless possibilities, and you can’t really go wrong so long as you remember a few key points.

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Mason jar salad with quinoa and chickpeas

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A perfect make ahead meal which is vegan, gluten-free and so very nutritious!

Some days we are so rushed in the morning that we head out for work without packing a lunch, and that really sucks. Can you relate? Every best intention to head to the cafeteria or nearby restaurant to buy something healthy is usurped by the sights and smells of tempting options – like French fries and mayonnaise loaded sandwiches. We try to be strong, but sometimes we’re weak and we give in to greasy temptations.

One solution is to have ready-made, grab-and-go lunches ready and waiting. There is no morning that is so busy that you can’t open the fridge and pull out an already packed lunch to take along with you. And when you make a few of these pre-packed meals at a time, you’re winning at life!

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Grilled zucchini salad with corn and black-eyed peas

August 27, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A salad hearty enough to be a light meal

When we fire up the out door grill to make delicious things like souvlaki, grilled steak or cedar planked salmon we like to take the opportunity to grill even more, and vegetables are an obvious choice. Sometimes we like to simply serve grilled vegetables, and other times we use them to make something special, like this delicious grilled zucchini salad with corn and black-eyed peas.

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Greek chicken and quinoa salad

July 27, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

A healthy and delicious combination of chicken, quinoa and Greek flavours.

Sometimes a salad is a wonderful side to a meal, like our fresh and simple maroulosalata and our fennel salad. Sometimes a light salad can be a meal, as is often the case during the summer months when our garden tomatoes are ripe and our Greek horiatiki or village salad is on repeat 7 days a week. And sometimes, like with this recipe, a salad can be a hearty meal, one that you can happily serve to a hungry family, and one which is substantial enough to serve guests invited to dine with you under the summer stars.

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Zoï’s salad

January 13, 2020 ~ miakouppa ~ 6 Comments

The perfect combination of lettuce, tomatoes, walnuts and parmesan cheese tossed with a sweet balsamic vinaigrette

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that for us food is intimately and intricately connected to family. We love to share our family stories and memories related to the recipes we post. And, we are so appreciative and humbled when others invite us into their worlds so that we may share their special recipes as well.

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Seafood salad

December 20, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 6 Comments

A creamy salad made with crab-flavoured seafood and mixed vegetables

This is a tale of two sisters. One sister has, for years, been bringing this seafood salad to every family gathering, holiday celebration and casual potluck. It is her signature dish. “What shall I bring?” she asks, and the answer is usually “Oh, why don’t you bring your delicious seafood salad?”. She agrees and everyone is happy, even the second sister. Sister #2 anticipates this amazing salad while she is busy making a moussaka or galaktoboureko as her contribution; a little tired and maybe frazzled, she is excited to know that there will be seafood salad on the table.

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Apple and almond salad

December 5, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 6 Comments

Mixed greens tossed with apple wedges and slivered almonds, tossed with an apple cider vinaigrette

We try to have salad for lunch almost every day. It’s easy, nutritious, generally low-calorie and the options are limitless. In the summer, when the garden tomatoes are at their finest we tend to eat a horiatiki, or Greek salad, every day. Other seasons, we try to incorporate different ingredients, like apples in the fall.

This super simple salad is a breeze to make, but don’t let its few basic ingredients fool you; the flavour is big.

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Potato Salad (Πατατοσαλάτα)

November 21, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A light and delicious potato salad full of wonderful textures and flavours

We went to a lot of picnics when we were kids. In late spring, summer and early fall, when the weather was inviting, our family would spend Saturdays on the mountain. If you’re from Montreal, you know that the mountain refers to Mount Royal. Declared a heritage site by municipal authorities and the Government of Quebec, the mountain covers 10 square kilometers, right in the heart of Montreal.