Spring Soul Nourishing Day Retreat 2025 - Recipes
- Leah Cooper
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Here are the recipes for the meal that was served at the Four Seasons Spring Soul Nourishing Day Retreat on Sunday 26 October 2025.
Click on the headings below to go to each recipe.
Sprouted Brown Rice
NOTE: Sprouted rice will only work with brown rice as it still has the outer hull covering the internal germ.
Ingredients
1 cup brown rice
First, soak the rice
Wash one cup of brown rice three times to remove dirt and dust.
Cover rice in plenty of water and allow to soak for 24 hours.
Drain and rinse well.
To sprout the rice
Keep rice in a sieve over a bowl and cover with a clean tea towel.
Wash the rice twice a day (morning and evening) in plenty of water and allow to drain over the bowl. Cover with tea towel.
Continue this for 2-3 days until little tails can be seen sprouting from the rice grains.
To cook sprouted rice
Rinse the sprouted rice and place in a saucepan with 1¾ cups water and a pinch of sea salt.
Bring pot to the boil. Once boiling, cover pot and reduce heat to low. Cook for 50 minutes. DO NOT remove the lid or stir the rice when cooking.
After 50 minutes, shut off the heat and allow the pot to sit for at least 10 minutes before removing the lid. This helps complete the cooking process.
After resting, gently fluff with a fork or stir the rice carefully to mix the grains at the top with the grains at the bottom of the pot.
Eat and enjoy.
Lentils
Ingredients
½ cup Puy or French lentils
Water
Sea salt
Method
Wash and soak lentils for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.
After soaking, rinse lentils and place in a saucepan with plenty of water.
Bring pot to boil and allow lentils to simmer for 15 minutes. Add a pinch of sea salt and cook for another 5 minutes, until the lentils are soft but not mushy.
Strain lentils and use in salads, mixed with rice, used in pasta sauce, or blended to make a spread or dip.
Brown Rice and Lentils
Ingredients
3-4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, organic sesame oil, or ghee
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tbsp mirin
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked lentils
Method
Heat a large heavy based fry pan over medium heat. When pan is hot, add oil or ghee.
Then add the spring onion and sauté, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes to ensure they don’t burn. Add a pinch of sea salt whilst they are sautéing and stir through.
Add the spices and mix through. Continue to cook for another minute. Add mirin and stir through.
Add the rice and lentils to the pan and stir to break up any clumps.
Add a dash of mirin and another pinch of salt and stir through.
Continue to mix gently until rice and lentils are completely integrated with the spring onions.
Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve.
Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
1-2 bunches asparagus, washed and ends removed
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch sea salt
Cracked black pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, minced finely
1/2 lemon, juiced
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Arrange asparagus on the baking sheet. Drizzle iwth olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Top with finely chopped garlic.
Place in the oven for 7-10 minutes.
Remove and squeeze lemon juice over the top.
Serve whilst still warm.
Tahini Umeboshi Sauce
Ingredients
¼ cup tahini
1 tsp umeboshi vinegar
½ lemon, squeezed
Pinch of sea salt
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup water
Method
Add all ingredients, except water, to a bowl or mixing jug.
Start to stir it all together and then gradually add water, a tablespoon at a time, to thin out the mixture until desired consistency is reached.
Drizzle sauce over cooked grains and asparagus.
NOTE: Sauce will thicken slightly if left standing. Simply add a little more water and stir through as needed.
Seasonal Salad
Ingredients
Baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
3 beetroots, baked, skin removed and diced
2 cups butternut pumpkin, cubed and baked
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, washed, leaves removed, roughly chopped
½ dill, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, washed and sliced (green parts only)
2-3 red radishes, sliced thinly
1/4 cup pickled red onion
1/2 cup candied walnuts
Method
In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients.
Gently toss ingredients together with hands.
Pour on dressing and mix again to distribute.
Serve immediately.
Baked Beetroot
Ingredients
1 bunch beetroot
Olive oil
Sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Prepare the beetroot by cutting them into halves or quarters (depending on their size).
Rub oil onto the beetroot quarters and sprinkle with sea salt. Wrap in a large piece of foil and seal tightly.
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes (or until softened).
Remove beetroot and allow to cool inside the foil.
When cooled, remove from the foil and rub off the skins. They should slip off easily.
Salad dressing
Ingredients
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp seeded mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
pinch sea salt
cracked black pepper
Method
Place dressing ingredients in a jar.
Seal jar and shake together to combine.
Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Pour over your salad. Any remaining dressing can be stored in the jar in your fridge.
Pickled Red Onion
Ingredients
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
pinch sea salt
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp raspberry or cherry vinegar
Method
Finely slice the red onion.
Sprinkle on salt and mix with fingers.
Add vinegar and massage gently.
Place a weight over the onion and allow to press for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Once the pickles are ready, they can be stored in a container in the fridge for use in salads, on pasta, sandwiches, etc.
Candied Walnuts
Ingredients
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tbsp maple syrup
pinch sea salt
Method
Heat a fry pan over low heat.
Add walnuts to the warm pan.
Stir gently until walnuts heat up.
Add maple syrup and pinch of salt.
Stir constantly until the syrup has caramelised. There should be no liquid left in the pan. The maple syrup coating will seem soft but will harden as it cools.
Place the walnuts on a sheet of baking paper and allow to cool.
Store in an airtight container when cooled.
Apricot, Orange and Cashew Bliss Balls
Ingredients
1 cup dried apricots (preferably soft - not too dry)
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp orange juice tbsp tahini
1-2 tbsp water
Method
Place cashews into a food processor and blitz until crumbled.
Chop the dried apricots into smaller pieces and add to the food processor along with the coconut, orange zest, vanilla, maple syrup, orange juice and tahini. Blitz again to combine.
Gradually add water and blitz again until the mixture holds together well when squeezed.
Take a spoonful of mixture and roll with wet hands into balls. Roll balls in extra coconut if desired.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Megan's Choc Bliss Balls
Ingredients
½ cup cacao powder
2 cups nuts almonds and cashews
½ cup goji berries
2 cups pitted dates
3 tbsp coconut oil (melted if hard)
Desiccated coconut, for coating
Method
Place nuts in blender. Do not blitz too fine. Also you can just use dry roasted almonds if you don’t want to use cashew nuts.
In separate bowl mix the cacao powder, goji berries and blitzed almonds and then add to this bowl the blitzed dates.
Add melted coconut oil and blend to combine.
Take spoonfuls and with wet hands roll into balls.
Roll balls in coconut.
Refrigerate until ready to eat.
Comments