Secret to making the best grilled cheese

September 27, 2021September 27, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 4 Comments

The secret to making the best grilled cheese sandwich includes a variety of cheeses and a few tricks

Now, we know that some of you are thinking….Please! A recipe for grilled cheese?! Who the heck needs a recipe that most 7 year olds know how to make? Well, if your typical grilled cheese is white bread, a slice of American cheese, and some margarine then we guess you’re right – no recipe required. But, if you want to elevate your grilled cheese game to something that is epic, we’ve got the secret to making the best grilled cheese! Also, we actually love the white bread, processed cheese, margarine version too.

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Spinach and cheese pita pocket

September 13, 2021September 13, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

Spinach and cheese pita pocket full of spinach, feta and mozzarella.

Ever crave spanakopita, but don’t have the time, energy or desire to make one? We feel like that sometimes! In those moments we have been known to call our parents to see if they happen to be rolling out phyllo dough in the middle of the afternoon to make one of their amazing spanakopitas…and if they are, would they mind if we came by to take it. Although we are often in luck (these two have limitless energy), sometimes they inform us that, no! No spanakopita – but we could drive by to pick up some pastitsio and galaktoboureko, which we happily do. Still, after eating our fill of other delicious things, we still find ourselves wanting spanakopita.

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Kale, quinoa and apple salad

September 7, 2021September 7, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 4 Comments

Kale, quinoa and apple salad is the perfect Fall salad

Those of you who grew up in Greek households would probably not be surprised to learn that quinoa didn’t feature prominently (at all) in our childhood diets. In fact, it was only while in university, exposed to so much, that we learned of this ancient Incan food. That was long before the United Nations declared 2013 the “International Year of Quinoa”. One of us was exploring a downtown health food store, an activity which felt other-worldly. At that time, natural health food stores and organic food was something that only the most eclectic concerned themselves with. We were by no means eclectic. We were simply curious, fascinated, and hungry.

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Easy tuna salad

September 5, 2021September 5, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 7 Comments

Easy tuna salad ideal for sandwiches and wraps.

How wonderful is it when you have a container of tuna salad in the refrigerator, ready to be used in sandwiches, wraps or even dolloped on top of a green salad for a carb-free lunch? We love starting the week with this recipe in the fridge – it makes packing up lunches for school and work so easy!

Our easy tuna salad recipe is full of flavour, uses ingredients you probably already have at home, and requires little chopping. You can easily put this together in a few short moments and then spend the rest of your time meal-planning for the week’s breakfast with recipes like our egg zucchini muffins and our easy breakfast tortilla wraps.

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Easy breakfast tortilla wraps

August 26, 2021August 26, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

These easy breakfast tortilla wraps are full of eggs, veggies, cheese and ham for the best make-ahead meal!

Breakfast is often touted as being the most important meal of the day. We’re here to help make it the easiest one as well. If you’re like us, mornings are often CRAZY! We thought things would get better as the kids got older, but…no. To those of you with little ones, dreaming about the future and imagining yourselves sipping lattes during peaceful, uneventful mornings…we’ve got some news for you! Whether your children are still in diapers or you have teens that need to be dragged out of bed, morning challenges always exist. They just look different.

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Fried phyllo wrapped feta

August 24, 2021August 24, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

Fried phyllo wrapped feta with chili flakes, honey and crushed pistachios.

We really like you. We care about you, and wish only the best for you and your families. Some of you have been with us from the very beginning and we are so grateful. Some of you are newer friends and we are thrilled that you have decided to join our Mia Kouppa community. Without you, each of you, our little space on the internet would be much less fun and much more lonely!

Because we care so much about you we are asking, hoping, imploring that you to try this recipe for fried phyllo wrapped feta. We want it to change your lives, the way all of you have changed ours. Sounds overly dramatic? Maybe, but that’s probably because you haven’t tasted this yet. Try it, and then let us know if we exaggerated a little too much.

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Egg zucchini muffins

August 20, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

Egg zucchini muffins flavoured with cheese are the perfect make-ahead breakfast!

School starts back soon and a new academic year always feels like an opportunity for new beginnings! Key to stress-free school year living is planning and organization and although we would love to say that we are always on the ball…that just isn’t always the case. Before bed searching for misplaced books or socks, snoozed alarms and rushed mornings, forgotten notes, lost lunch boxes, pimples on picture day….we’ve lived it all! And it isn’t over!

There are some things however that make us feel as though we’ve got a grip on life. As silly as it may sound, recipes like this one for egg zucchini muffins are one of those things. These portable, easy to reheat and eat egg muffins are so handy to have in the refrigerator. Make a batch and store them in a container for your family to grab and go on busy mornings. Pack a couple for lunch and along with some carrot sticks or a salad and you’ve got a pretty well-balanced meal.

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Peach, tomato and feta salad

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

Peach, tomato and feta salad is a refreshing and delicious summer side or light meal.

This is great summer salad! The colours are reminiscent of a flirty summer dress (or a Hawaiian shirt) and the taste is bright, sweet, salty, crisp and absolutely perfect.

Typical fruit salads are great, but we also love to have fun with ingredients. Some of you may not have thought to combine peaches with tomatoes or to serve feta in the same bowl as sweet fruit. But, if you’ve been around these parts long enough you know that feta pairs beautifully with the fresh tastes of summer, like watermelon! You can see that combination in action here, and here.

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Lamb burgers with feta

August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

Delicious Greek-style grilled lamb burgers with feta topped with tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce and red onions.

Αρνίσια μπιφτέκια με φέτα. We love lamb. We didn’t always; its strong flavour was not consistently appreciated by our developing palates, but we came around. It is a special ingredient that we don’t have too often, but when we do we like to treat it with as much care and attention as possible.

We are always taken aback when a non-Greek assumes Greeks eat lamb more often than any other meat. We wonder if it was only in our family that lamb was a special occasion food. But then we remember that although lamb is popular in Greece, other meats such as pork, are much more so. In some areas, goat even surpasses the consumption of lamb. And then we also remember that the Mediterranean diet we were privileged to be raised on prioritizes less meat and more other stuff. Lamb, pork, goat, beef and even chicken are less frequently enjoyed than fresh fish and seafood and vegetarian recipes.