Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine

Colombes first memory in the kitchen is with her grandmother decorating a coconut cake with purple flowers from the garden. Fast-forward to a time in college when she went off the meal plan and started cooking daily with friends in an effort to replace cafeteria food with tastier meals.

Years later, Colombe graduated from the Natural Gourmet Cooking School where she was trained as a Natural Foods Chef. Using seasonal, local, and organic ingredients, Colombe creates healthy twists on meals while preserving a high-quality culinary experience. She is constantly searching for the next unique spice, ingredient, flavor or edible muse.

Colombe shares meals, culinary tips and recipes to maintain a healthy but fun lifestyle in the face of a days challenging eating decisions. She launched an original webisode series for Food Network called Conscious Cooking. You may also recognize her from The Next Food Network Star Season 3, from which she is best remembered for her creative approach to everyday healthy meals. She now appears weekly on Better Tv's food segment and is an editorial contributor for recipe.com.

You can often find Colombe anywhere that one sees local farmers reaching out to their community with fresh produce. One of her favorite spots is the Union Square Green Market in New York City, but she loves traveling and exploring markets all over the world.

She works as a personal chef, cooking instructor, food consultant and yoga/core fusion teacher. In her free time she plans and teaches Harvest Time, a cooking program for children in Harlem. You can also visit her blog and website www.colombedujour.com.