Cretan dakos (Κρητικός ντάκος)

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A traditional Cretan salad of tomatoes, feta and herbs on top of a barley rusk

Oh Crete, how we love you! We’ve both had the great pleasure of visiting this largest and southernmost island of Greece, spending weeks exploring the cities, beaches, gorges and of course, the tavernas and restaurants. Cretan cuisine, like all Greek cooking, is based on fresh, local ingredients and the regional specialties often showcase food items you can only find there. Fortunately however, much of what is loved and devoured in Crete can be replicated off the island, and this dakos salad is a perfect example of that.

Beans and rice

July 29, 2019August 8, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

This post, and recipe for beans and rice is sponsored by Purolator Tackle Hunger . We were compensated for our time, and all opinions in this post are our own.

How wonderful is it when the stars align? That’s exactly what happened when we were asked to participate in the Purolator Tackle Hunger game day food drive, which partners with the Canadian Football League to help raise hunger awareness and collect non-perishable food items and cash donations for food banks across the country. Since its beginning in 2003 the Purolator Tackle Hunger® program has helped deliver the equivalent of more than 13 million pounds of food to food banks across Canada.

Grilled vegetables (Λαχανικά στη σχάρα)

July 22, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A medley of marinated and grilled vegetables

Eat your vegetables! Who hasn’t heard this, or uttered it, over and over again. Sometimes getting your kids, your spouse, yourself to eat vegetables seems like an uphill battle. Let’s face it, not everyone goes crazy for luscious greens like vlita or okra, or is satisfied with a meal whose main star is cauliflower. In fact, today we crave vegetables but there was a time when we would plan covert operations to stealthily dispose of the grossness that our parents put before us; our spanakorizo disposal tactics were legendary. Still, even in the throes of our vegetable-hating youths, we never rejected vegetables that were marinated and grilled, and which usually happened to be served along with grilled souvlaki or steak.

Spinach salad with peaches and dates

July 16, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

A fresh summer salad with fruit sweetness and walnut crunch

Summer is salad season, and we love that! When it is too hot to turn on the oven, or when we would much rather be frolicking in the sun or strolling around our beautiful city, a no-nonsense salad which ticks off so many boxes is just the answer. Delicious. Check. Nutritious. Check. Quick and easy. Check. Inexpensive. Check. Too good not to share…check!

Pasta topped with fried egg

July 8, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

Egg noodles topped with an egg fried in olive oil

Whenever we’re in a rush and need to get a meal on the table quick, we tend to turn to either a pasta dish like spaghetti with olive oil and mizithra, or an egg dish, like an omelette full of Greek flavour. Pasta and eggs are the start of so many quick, nutritious and easy meals. In this recipe these two go-to staples are combined to create a recipe that was a regular in our home growing up.

Sauteed green peppers (Πράσινες πιπεριές τηγανιτές)

July 1, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

A simple side full of green bell peppers, red onion and a few herbs

If you’re a gardener, you might be like our family who feels that there are some basic vegetables without which a garden could never be complete. Oh sure, we like to experiment and occasionally try to grow watermelons, asparagus, and brussel sprouts, with varying degrees of success, but some things are non-negotiable. Bell peppers are included in that category of must-grows.

Herb marinated feta

June 17, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 6 Comments

Greek feta marinating in a herb, lemon and chili pepper infused olive oil

Feta is the king of cheeses, in our opinion. It is perhaps the best known Greek cheese and is so loved that it finds its way into so many recipes. Whether it is used to fill kalitsounia, or covered in sesame seeds and fried, or added to an amazing Greek salad, feta makes everything betta! 🙂 Growing up, a breakfast, lunch and dinner were never complete if there wasn’t an oval shaped bowl holding pieces of feta available. It didn’t really matter what was being served; the general consensus was that feta goes with everything.

No-knead bread with halloumi, mint and orange

June 10, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 4 Comments

A crispy crust and a perfect crumb of cheese, herbs and citrus

Bread is life. We don’t care how many diets exist which denounce bread as an evil scourge on waistlines, we love it. For us, bread is what makes a meal complete, like when we make green beans with potatoes and use bread to sop up all of the delicious sauces. Or when we finish our horiatiki salad and use bread to soak up the liquid left behind; olive oil, oregano, the juices from the tomatoes and little crumbs of feta. Divine. Life is too short to be denied carbs.

Broccoli with olive oil and lemon (Μπρόκολο με ελαιόλαδο και λεμόνι)

May 27, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ Leave a comment

Steamed broccoli served with olive oil and a dash of lemon juice

Broccoli was never a hated vegetable in our house. No one cringed when it was served. No one pushed it around on their plate until they could slip it to the dog (not that we had a dog). We simply ate it, because we loved it. Seriously. And our parents only ever served it one way.

Greek nachos

May 23, 2019July 31, 2019 ~ miakouppa ~ 4 Comments

All your favourite nacho elements, with a kick of Greek

A vice that we both share is our love for chips. Potato chips, corn chips, nacho chips, we devour them all. When we were young one of our favourite junk food snacks was taking a bowl of regular potato chips (Humpty Dumpty brand was preferred) and dousing them with white vinegar. Home made salt and vinegar chips! We were clearly meant for recipe developing. As our taste buds matured and we became more refined, we moved on to other things…like nacho chips, bottled salsa and creamy, is-it-really-cheese?, jarred nacho cheese sauce. Glorious!

Category: Vegetarian

Cretan dakos (Κρητικός ντάκος)

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Beans and rice

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Grilled vegetables (Λαχανικά στη σχάρα)

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Spinach salad with peaches and dates

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Pasta topped with fried egg

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Sauteed green peppers (Πράσινες πιπεριές τηγανιτές)

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Herb marinated feta

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No-knead bread with halloumi, mint and orange

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Broccoli with olive oil and lemon (Μπρόκολο με ελαιόλαδο και λεμόνι)

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Greek nachos

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