My favorite recipes 11/10/11

Christina Lionetti loves to bake, but she doesn’t like to eat her own creations. Christina’s husband, Fred, and two-year-old daughter, Clementine, never complain about having too many cupcakes to eat. Her neighbors and friends also benefit from Christina’s baking.

“I love to bake,” Christina said. “I don’t usually eat what I bake. I’d rather eat a Reese’s peanut butter cup.”

While growing up in the Los Angeles area, neither she nor her mother cooked. Her meals were a combination of eating out or simple foods like hot dogs and macaroni and cheese out of a box. Healthy foods, she thought, were home-made, too difficult to make and would not taste good. Then she married Fred and her attitude about cooking changed.

“To help save money, I started cooking,” Christina said. “I thought it was going to be too hard. It’s not.”

The first meal she cooked for her husband was pork chops. Christina called her grandmother for the recipe. She was also given a simple cook book by co-workers at an elementary school where she worked in La Jolla, Calif. Now, she likes to find recipes online and is always trying something new.

“Grandma would cook Thanksgiving dinner, but I never learned from her when I was younger,” Christina said. “I wish I had.”

When she visits home in Los Angeles she spends time learning to cook from her grandmother. This holiday season she hopes to learn how to make her grandmother’s mashed potatoes.

They usually plan a trip home during the holidays. After spending hours visiting with relatives, they treat themselves and Clementine with a trip to Disneyland. Clementine’s favorite attraction is the Haunted Mansion.

“Clementine is a daredevil,” Christina said. “This fall we went to the fair and all she wanted to do was ride the rides.”

Clementine said she did not like the animals because they were too noisy. Clementine likes to make cupcakes and cookies with her mom. She said her favorite food is watermelon.

Christina and Clementine like to search out and visit the many parks located in and around the Pullman area. Christina said she is surprised at how many parks are hidden in the many neighborhoods of Pullman.

The Lionettis’ favorite activity is to go out to dinner. They like to try new restaurants and have tried many Pullman and Moscow eateries. Christina said Clementine is not a picky eater. She believes it is from trying so many different types of foods. Christina is pregnant with their second child and for the first three months of her pregnancy she craved pasta from the Black Cypress in Pullman.

“They make fresh pasta with a creamy garlic sauce,” Christina said with a smile. “It’s really, really good. I just crave it.”

Christina loves to run. She ran her first half-marathon last spring and really enjoyed it. She is already looking forward to spring, after the baby is born, to begin training again and plans on running another half-marathon. By next summer, she hopes to run a full marathon.

“Running is just fun,” Christina said. “I feel like it’s an all-body workout. You do it for an hour and then you feel really good, energetic.”

However, because of the pregnancy, she has had to stop running and already misses it. She has switched from daily runs to swimming lessons, hoping to improve her strokes. She also actively participates in a spinning class.

“I work out because I love to eat,” Christina said.

Recipes:

Apple Lentil Spinach Salad

2 cups cooked lentils, cooked, divided

1 pound fresh spinach, torn

1 cup Granny Smith apples, unpeeled and chopped

Dressing

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 small onion, grated

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons salt

Pepper to taste

In a large salad bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils, spinach and apples. Mixing well, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Just before serving, pour over salad and toss. Sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1/2 cup lentils.

Spicy Peanut Chicken over Rice

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 tablespoon garlic, minced

2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

3 cups chopped plum tomato

2 14 oz. cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

8 cups hot cooked brown rice

3/4 cup 2% Greek-style yogurt

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add chicken to pan; cook 8 minutes or until chicken is done, stirring frequently. Stir in peanut butter and next 5 ingredients cook 1 minute. Add tomato and broth to pan bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve chicken mixture over rice; top each serving with yogurt.

White Chip Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are set. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Creamy Hot Cocoa

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon white sugar

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup boiling water

2 1/2 cups and 2 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons half-and-half cream

Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend In the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn’t scorch. Stir in milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 3 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.