How about some fresh veggies to go with your Vinyasa yoga? Healthy gourmet food offerings after a yoga class is what it’s all about at Sunny Yoga Kitchen in NorthWest Crossing.

“It’s all about filling mind, body and soul,” says co-founder Amy Wright, who’s the executive chef at the yoga studio, which houses casual fine dining and meditation all under one roof.

“We are combining our passions of what we love to do,” adds partner Courtney Hynum, who is one of the four trained and licensed yoga instructors and holds a degree in kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin.

Hynum and Wright, who recently celebrated four years of marriage, say the idea came to them in California, where they practiced yoga in a studio next to a cafe that served “so-so” food.

“We thought we could do better and healthier food,” explains Wright, who started looking for a place where they could combine a yoga studio and a commercial kitchen.

“We had a few criteria, and basically we love snowboarding, and we wanted to be close to a mountain, but it had to have a real city,” Hynum says.

The partners, along with Wright’s older sister, bought into their dream of Bend and their belief in their creative business. The first thing they did after finding space in NorthWest Crossing was to buy an east-side home, where they could have a big backyard for their many dogs. The women often ride their bikes to work, a 20-minute commute under pedal power.

At a recent meeting in Wright and Hynum’s cozy home kitchen in east Bend, the women prepped and cooked their nontraditional Thanksgiving meal. Wright decided she would serve a pork loin instead of a turkey.

“I love pork. It’s a sustainable meat, easier on the environment than even a chicken,” says Wright, slicing the perfectly grilled and baked pork loin. “It also doesn’t take all day to roast, like a turkey.”

The neat, square-shaped kitchen is the perfect size to have everything close at hand. As a professional chef, Wright has everything chopped and prepped in small bowls. With this Thanksgiving meal, she makes a baby kale and Brussels sprout salad with currants and shallots. Wright says salads should be elaborate, but with meats you should keep it simple, since the protein is already so hearty.

“For the pork loin, I brined it in water, salt and pepper — that’s it,” explains Wright. “Then I grilled each side for about four minutes, and then put it in the oven.”

She says by prepping and cooking this Thanksgiving meal early, everything but the salad can be frozen and warmed up to make for a stress-free Thanksgiving day.

The other side dish is a vegetarian butternut squash risotto.

“I puree the fresh butternut squash and then cook the risotto,” says Wright, stirring the risotto on the stove in her favorite cast iron pan, before popping it in the oven. “I worked in an Italian restaurant, so I know how to cook risotto.”

Between them, they have several decades’ worth of restaurant and cooking experience, even though their youthful looks would throw you off.

Hynum, 35, is also responsible for making the energy bars and her specialty dessert, the Avocado Chocolate Mousse, which is gluten-free and dairy-free. It’s a dessert that has become so popular, customers will order it ahead of time to take home.

Wright, 38, says the restaurant portion of their business has really taken off since they opened nine months ago.

“When we started Sunny Yoga, we made a commitment to buy only local, so we buy our produce from Agriculture Connections, and our pork from Primal Cuts on Galveston, and we have it delivered by bike from Cascade Couriers,” explains Wright, who says Sunny Yoga’s kitchen space is 35 square feet. Storage is an issue, and it forces them to buy fresh every day. “We try to cook seasonally, buy what we can get that season, and I think people here appreciate that.”

They have fresh fruit juices and vegetable-fruit blends to go with seasonal dishes for lunch. Dinner is served Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday they’re open for brunch. Wright and Hynum have also catered two large weddings.

But no matter how busy they become in the kitchen, the couple center themselves every day at work with yoga in their 1,000-square-foot studio. Once the snow starts to fly, they will take Mondays off and take to the slopes with their snowboards.

It appears Wright and Hynum have found the perfect balance of yin and yang at their Sunny Yoga studio. Calming spirits in yoga, and feeding the soul.

Wright answered a few questions about their home cooking practices:

What are the three ingredients you’ll always find in your home kitchen cupboard and/or refrigerator? Dry pasta, fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese.

Favorite home meals you like to prepare? Pasta. I learned to cook in an Italian restaurant, so it is my go-to meal.

What is your favorite home appliance in your kitchen? My gas range.

What is your favorite hand tool/cooking utensil in your kitchen, other than a knife? Whisks! Also my tongs and cast iron pans.

Is there an appliance you disdain having in the kitchen? Microwaves. We have one in our home kitchen, but we never use it. It came with the house.

Any cool gadgets at work that you don’t have at home? My kitchen at Sunny has all kinds of fun gadgets, my Vitamix, rice cooker, juicer … . It is truly where I like to cook.

What chefs do you admire most? The late Judy Rodgers, whom I worked for at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, and Vitaly Paley, whom I worked for as well at Imperial in Portland. Not only are they technically talented chefs, but also they are great people who developed incredible relationships with the people they buy their ingredients from and their customers.

What restaurants do you enjoy, other than your own? 5 fusion, Barrio, 900 Wall, Tacos at El Sancho.

Do you have a favorite cooking memory? Or favorite memorable meal you prepared? My favorite cooking memory was my first professional cooking experience in college, working the pantry line at an Italian restaurant. My chef taught me how to make balsamic vinaigrette, and I was hooked.

Favorite room in which you like to eat your meals? My backyard patio as often as possible. My sister and I totally redid our backyard and landscaped it by ourselves.

Does your family have regular dinner or meals together? We do, actually, at least three or four times a week.

Best meal you’ve ever eaten in your life? Pizza in Naples — it was a religious experience for sure.

Guilty food pleasure? Burritos!

What’s your ideal/dream home kitchen? An outdoor kitchen with a wood oven. I would love to be able to cook outside at least three-quarters of the year.

If you could invite three guests (living or not) to dinner, who would they be? James Beard, Julia Child and Ferran Adria. I would be too nervous to cook for them, but we could drink tons of wine, and they could tell stories.

What do you like to do outside of the kitchen — in other words, what happens when the chef’s toque comes off? Snowboarding — that is pretty much why Courtney and I moved to Bend. Hiking is a big passion as well; being in the mountains is where we like to spend our free time.

Hynum: I worked in a nonprofit yoga studio, and I loved the idea of having yoga open to everyone. So once a month on Wednesday, we have a community yoga class, where you pay what you can, and whatever donations we get we give to a local charity.

If you weren’t in the food industry, what profession would you have chosen? I cannot imagine not working in the industry. If I had to pick a dream job it would be coaching basketball.

Favorite food quote or philosophy you often repeat to yourself? “Put an egg on it!”

— Reporter: halpen1@aol.com