Maria Menounos’ cookbook isn’t even out yet, but it’s already a hit in one of the most famous kitchens in the world — Kris Jenner’s.
Spacious and almost all-white, the kitchen is the hub for much of the family action on “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
As an anchor on E! News, Menounos, 37, shares a network with Jenner and has been in her kitchen more than a few times. She came away personally inspired.
“Kris’ kitchen is so glamorous and I love her style,” Menounos says. “I wanted her kitchen, so I redid mine.”
The admiration is mutual. Both Jenner and daughter Khloe Kardashian, who received advanced copies of the book, rave about Menounos’ cooking on the back cover of “The EveryGirl’s Guide to Cooking,” available Tuesday (Zinc Ink, $22).
And according to Menounos, after she sent Kim Kardashian home with a stash of her and her mom Litsa’s butter cookies, Kim reported back that little North West gobbled ’em all up.
Menounos spends a great of time in her own kitchen with her mother, Litsa. Her parents live part of the year with her in L.A., and many of the recipes in the book are her mom’s.
Back home in Medford, Mass., Litsa was a cook in a school cafeteria, turning out hundreds of health-conscious lunches daily. At home, she tailored dishes to her husband’s restricted diet. Constantinos is diabetic.
“Not only would Mom come home from cooking all day to feed the four of us, but we’re Greek, so the extended family gets together a lot,” Menounos laughs. “Then there were all those church events.”
During her last year of college in Boston, Mass., Menounos lost 40 pounds in a self-devised diet following her mother’s cooking principles. Exactly how she did it was detailed in an earlier book, “The EveryGirl’s Guide to Diet and Fitness.”
Before that came the “The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life,” the first in a series she conceived of with her longtime romantic partner, producer Kevin Undergaro.
The books are meant for busy young women in the process of getting it together.
In the latest installment, delicious and healthy, yet easy, recipes like Sweet Potato and Black Bean Breakfast Burrito; Zucchini Frittata; Potato-Onion Stew; and Autumn Kale Salad with Apple and Cider Vinaigrette are a siren call into the kitchen.
And Menounos — whose varied career has covered everything from boogying on “Dancing with the Stars” to throwdowns at wrestling events — will soon launch a line of frozen appetizers and entrees, Maria’s Greek Delights.
