Last night I attended a Clean Eating Cooking Class. The event was hosted by Whole Foods, taught by Amanda Skrip, and coordinated by Jessica from Dishin’ About Nutrition.

There was a nice spread of snacks. Everything was vegan and gluten free.

I enjoyed a glass of red wine.

And some chips, veggies, and a macaroon. The vegan jerky and the peanut butter cups are currently sitting on my kitchen counter daring me to eat them for breakfast.

After a few minutes of chatting it up, we took our seats and Amanda got started cooking. Amanda is a natural foods chef and wellness consultant and she really knows her stuff. I wish I could hire her full-time as my own personal chef. A girl can dream, huh?

The first dish we tasted was Gingered Sweet Potato Soup.

I really liked it. It was smooth, creamy, with a little kick to it. She has a kick-ass blender that not only pureed the soup, but warmed it as well. Sign me up for one of those babies.

Next up was Brown Rice ‘Risotto Style’ with White Beans, Kale, and Maitake Mushrooms.

For having no cream or dairy in it, the rice was very creamy, like a true risotto. I loved the mushroom – I didn’t really think I was a big mushroom fan, but evidently I am – at least when they are cooked by Amanda

The third dish we tried was Spaghetti Squash with Arugula, Olives, and Almonds.

Very good. Lots of flavors and textures. I learned that you don’t have to cook spaghetti squash in the oven. You can slice it open and cook it right in a pot of boiling water – MUCH faster!

Next up was my favorite “dish” of the night, Sesame Seed Brittle.

It actually has little pieces of nori in it, which surprisingly works very well. It adds a little saltiness to the otherwise sweet brittle. I plan on making this asap.

One of the ingredients in the brittle is pumpkin seeds. How very convenient then, that I won a bag of pumpkin seeds for correctly identifying what type of kale we were using (Dinosaur).

The last dish of the evening was dessert – Baked Pears with Pecan Crumble.

Can’t go wrong with baked fruit + crumbly topping. This was warm and fresh out of the oven…awesome.

I had a blast. My second food demo of the week – lucky girl! Thanks again to Amanda (and Whole Foods!) for the delicious food and especially to Jessica for putting this whole thing together. It was nice meeting some other bloggers, too – Chelsey, Katie, and Tracy!

Have a great Thursday, peeps!