Eat better, feel better.

It’s been Sarah Wight’s mantra for the past few years.

While most of her friends at college stuffed themselves with cafeteria food and Ramen noodles, she was filling her plate with vegetables.

Her biggest challenge was finding creative ways to make healthy foods tasty. And then she got a job as an intern with Natural Ltd founder Catherine Burns.

“We were always talking about recipes,” said the 22-year-old. “I would say how my mom’s friends would want to come over for dinner to try some of my recipes. There would always be wine and good food and conversation.

“Cat said that would be a great thing to bring to the community. Some of her friends liked to do the same thing.

“She knew I was back for the summer and thought it would be a great idea on a summer night after work to head over to The Chef’s Shop to have a drink and taste a bunch of delicious things and meet with new friends.”

The Dalhousie University graduate will prepare a supercharged breakfast and several sides at a cooking demonstration at the Par-la-Ville Road store on Tuesday night.

Come prepared to taste spiralised vegetable Pad Thai and kale tahini salads and a passion fruit cheesecake that’s both raw and vegan. Organic wine will also be on offer.

“We both brainstormed and put together [recipes] that were fun, appropriate and that people wouldn’t have done before,” Miss Wight said. “I wanted more desserts, but Cat had to rein me in.

“I’ll be doing the cooking and Cat will be there to answer nutritional questions and talk about why we’re doing certain things to maximise the nutritional value. I’m really looking forward to it. ”

Miss Wight only got interested in natural foods during her first year at the Canadian university despite having been introduced to farm fresh products years earlier.

Her parents who “were always healthy” would take the family to farmers’ markets on their regular summer holidays in Vermont.

However it wasn’t until her freshman year it clicked: if you eat better, you start to feel better too.

She started running more and found the combination of diet and exercise helped her feel happier, more energetic and gave her the mental clarity to get all her studying in.

“[Creating recipes] involves lots of trial and error,” she said. “It’s all about the flavour so adding herbs, lemon zest or any citrus zest works well. Dressings also help.

“You have to find a sweet and salty balance and that involves working with certain vegetables over and over and finding which ones taste good and how to make them taste more palatable than they did before.

“In the summer I love mango avocado salsa on fish and chicken. I also work that into a guacamole at the same time.

“I also make hummus, like everyday, because my family eats so much. I love different smoothies with berries and other fruits. Those are some of my favourite things.”

Miss Wight’s cooking demonstration will run from 6pm to 8pm. Admission is $85. For more information call 292-1661.