By AMANDA VERZELLO

Cold cereal and ramen noodles are not exactly healthy, but they have often been portrayed as the archetypal college student diet. To break this stereotype, students can take a drive up to Midway for a taste of “delicious health.”

Zermatt Resort offers cooking classes on Thursday mornings from 9:30-11 a.m. to teach people how to make food that’s both tasty and easy on the waistline.

“We bring in the nutritional side of health and cooking,” said Leslie Smoot, class coordinator and recipe developer.

The $12 fee always includes served food.

“We try to make it affordable with the help of Zermatt,” Smoot said.

Smoot collaborated with chef Steven Tory Robinson to show people how they can create tasty meals using fresh, seasonal ingredients — without using prepackaged mixes.

Smoot and Robinson present classes in a live cooking show format. Class members are seated as the audience, and they are free to pipe in with questions at any time. Most of the food that is prepared on stage is served to the class.

The menu at a recent class included a winter salad with pomegranate dressing, maple-glazed butternut squash, pecan crusted chicken and pumpkin cheesecake.

“The food was absolutely wonderful,” said Helen Barrus from Draper. “It was healthy and tasteful at the same time.”

Although the drive from Draper is about an hour for Barrus, it’s worth traveling to Zermatt to attend the classes, she said. “They give you so much food.”

The chefs put an emphasis on fresh, whole, seasonal and raw foods. Raw foods are just as they sound — uncooked, unprocessed and ready to be consumed in their natural state. “If you can eat 50 percent or more raw foods, you will be substantially healthier,” Smoot said.

At the end of each three-class cooking series, Robinson treats guests to a gourmet “evening with the chef.” Robinson recommends coming to the class to learn “secrets of the professionals.”
December’s menu includes a three-course Christmas dinner, including French turkey stuffed with fruit and a pumpkin mousse dessert. The cost is $30 per person.

To register for a class or for more information e-mail lesliesmoot@gmail.com