For Sonja Christiansen, cooking not only satisfies the body, but also the mind and soul. As a holistic health practitioner, she sees cooking as a great way to relax.

“Cooking is a wonderful form of stress management,” she says.

Christiansen grew up in Freedom, Maine, after emigrating with her family from Frankfurt, Germany. The oldest of 13 children, she learned to cook by the age of 9. Her memories of these early experiences are fond ones. “I learned to cook a variety of things by using whatever we had around the house. Also, I would make biscuits and bread, mostly. I made 10 loaves a week. With that many people in the house, we went through a lot!”

Maybe it’s from her background of cooking for large groups of people, but Christiansen insists that cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. “I enjoy feeding people a variety of things. The foods need to be fairly simple to prepare.” And cooking simply doesn’t have to mean prepackaged foods. “I use as many whole foods as possible,” she stresses. “Sometimes the prepackaged are necessary, in a pinch, but I avoid them.”

Christiansen feels lucky to have someone with whom to share her love of cooking. She and her new husband, Ed, love to make meals together.

She has one important piece of advice that she offers with some amusement: “One does not stay in the kitchen while the other is cooking. We’ll both help in preparing the foods, but when it time comes for the actual cooking, one stays in the kitchen and the other disappears. It’s less stressful that way.”

The newlyweds, who were married in June, live in Auburn.

When not in the kitchen or running her private holistic health practice, Healing Focus, Christiansen enjoys reading, sewing and photography.

Simple basic stuffed mushrooms
Ingredients:
Medium mushrooms, about 3 to 4 per person

½ cup butter (1 stick)

1 teaspoon chopped garlic or ½ teaspoon powdered garlic

Olive oil

Red or white wine, or sherry or beer

Bread crumbs, plain or seasoned, as preferred

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Basil or oregano
Method:

Wash, dry and pick out stems of mushrooms. Put stems in a plastic bag and pop them into the freezer to use in other cooked dishes

Melt the stick of butter, add chopped garlic or sprinkle powdered garlic into the butter; add a good dash of olive oil.

Add a little wine, red or white, sherry or beer, if you like, and enough bread crumbs, plain or seasoned, to make a moist sawdust. Then add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese (any grated cheese you have around will work) and a generous pinch of sweet basil or oregano. Add more a little more liquid if mixture seems too dry.

Pack stuffing generously into each mushroom. Use fingers or a spoon.

Cook for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. They’re almost done what you can smell them.

Sonja’s note:

These are just fine to serve as an appetizer as they are or you can add baby shrimp, crabmeat, cheese, salmon … anything.

Eight-minute chicken delight
Ingredients:
Chicken of some kind, such as a flattened boneless breast, or chicken “fingers” or chicken stir-fry strips. Approximately ½ breast per person

¼ cup butter (½ a stick), or less.

Small to medium-size zucchini or summer squash

Ripe peaches, washed, pitted, unpeeled; allow half a peach per person

Sour cream, about half a pint

Salt and pepper

Cinnamon

Sugar

Thyme and basil or any herbs you have around
Marsala, sherry or white wine
Method:

Sauté chicken in butter over medium heat, about two minutes on each side, or until no longer pink; sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme. If you don’t have thyme, use oregano. The flavor will change, but it still works. Place on warmed serving platter.

Wash and slice zucchini or summer squash lengthwise in quarters, trim off ends. If they are very long, cut in half. Also, if you are having more people than expected, cutting them in half stretches the meal. Sauté until tender over medium heat in the same pan that the chicken was cooked it, about two minutes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and basil. Place on warmed platter around chicken.

Lay peach halves in pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Again, cook over medium heat. Turn once. Cook about two minutes on each side. You want the peaches to get mushy. Place around zucchini. Put platter in a warm oven to keep warm, if you wish.

Using a fork, stir drippings from the bottom of your pan. Add a good bit of white wine, sherry or Marsala, whatever you have around. (Alcohol will evaporate during cooking but will leave a lovely flavor.)

Then add about a half a pint of sour cream, more or less to taste. Mix until smooth and warm, but don’t overheat.

Pour over just cooked chicken and veggies. Serve up a delightful surprise!

Sonja’s notes:

This is a simply elegant supper or lunch for two or a crowd. The operative word here is simple.

Use a nice serving dish since you can make anything feel elegant and special with nice dishes, tablecloth and candles.

You can add other vegetables you have around, as well. Think creatively. Use what you have around. Once when I had extra unexpected guests for dinner, I added a bunch of sliced onions and mushrooms to the mix and cut the chicken, peaches and zucchini in half to stretch things. Worked fine.

This is a simple, fast meal the way it is, which goes from stove to table in about eight minutes. You could serve wild or brown rice on the side. Or leave out the chicken and you have a different vegetarian dish.

Fancy fruit summer dessert
Ingredients:
Large container of low-fat vanilla yogurt

Fresh or frozen fruit, any kind.
Method:

Mix ½ cup or so of fruit with about ¼ cup of yogurt per person in a blender. You may want to change amount according to your taste. Blend, pour into dessert dishes or wine glasses. Freeze about an hour. Serve topped with a dollop of yogurt, whipped cream, flowers from your garden or anything interesting you have around.

Sonja’s note:

This is an easy make-ahead dessert that looks nice served in fancy dessert dishes or wine glasses.