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Writer's pictureLeah Cooper

Spring Soul Nourishing Day Retreat - Recipes

Here are the recipes for the meal that was served at the Four Seasons Spring Soul Nourishing Day Retreat on Sunday 29 September 2024.


Click on the headings below to go to each recipe.


Brown Rice, Quinoa and Lentils with Spiced Onions

Grilled Asparagus


Spiced Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup

Ingredients

2 stalks lemongrass, chopped into 5cm pieces

6 Kaffir lime leaves

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or organic sesame oil

2 onions, diced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped

½ tsp sea salt

2 tsp curry powder

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tbsp finely chopped coriander stems

1 large or 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

6-8 carrots, chopped

1 cup coconut milk (recommend using Ayam brand)

1 litre stock or water

½ lime, juiced

Coriander leaves – to serve


Method 

  1. Warm oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes or until golden.

  2. Add garlic, ginger and salt. Stir through and continue to cook for a couple more minutes.

  3. Stir in curry powder, turmeric and coriander stems and mix through.

  4. Add the sweet potato and carrots and stir to coat in the onion/spice mixture.

  5. Add the coconut milk, half the stock/water and the lime leaves and lemongrass.

  6. Add additional stock/water so the vegetables are just immersed.

  7. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes (or until vegetables are tender).

  8. Remove from the heat and carefully extract the lime leaves and lemongrass.

  9. Blend soup until smooth using a blender.

  10. Return to the pot and season to taste. Add the lime juice and stir through.

  11. Serve in bowls or mugs and garnish with coriander leaves.


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

  1. Rinse the sprouted rice and place in a saucepan with 1¾ cups water and a pinch of sea salt.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Eat and enjoy.


Quinoa

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

1¼  cups water

pinch of sea salt

 

Method

  1. Rinse the quinoa several times to remove dirt. 

  2. Strain and then place in a pot with water and salt.

  3. Bring to the boil.

  4. Cover with lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes.

  5. Switch off heat and leave covered for an additional 10 minutes to fully absorb the water.

  6. Fluff with a fork.


Lentils

Ingredients 

½ cup Puy or French lentils

Water

Sea salt


 Method

  1. Wash and soak lentils for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.

  2. After soaking, rinse lentils and place in a saucepan with plenty of water.

  3. 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.

  4. Strain lentils and use in salads, mixed with rice, used in pasta sauce, or blended to make a spread or dip.


Brown Rice, Quinoa and Lentils with Spiced Onions

Ingredients 

1 large brown onion, peeled and sliced thinly

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

2 tbsp mirin

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup cooked lentils

½ lemon

 

Method

  1. Heat a large heavy based fry pan over medium heat. When pan is hot, add oil or ghee.

  2. Then add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes to ensure they don’t burn. Add a pinch of sea salt whilst they are sautéing and stir through.

  3. Once the onions soften, add the spices and mix through. Continue to cook for a few more minutes. Add 1tbsp of mirin to the onions and stir through.

  4. Add the rice, quinoa and lentils to the pan and stir to break up any clumps.

  5. Add a dash of mirin and another pinch of salt and stir through.

  6. Continue to mix gently until rice, quinoa and lentils are completely integrated with the onions.

  7. Squeeze lemon juice over and stir through.

  8. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve.


Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients

1-2 bunches asparagus, washed and ends removed

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Pinch sea salt

1 tsp ghee

Method

  1. Heat a grill pan on high heat.

  2. Whilst grill is heating, place asparagus in a large dish and drizzle oil over. Gently toss to coat the asparagus in the oil.

  3. Once the pan is hot, add the asparagus spears.

  4. Sprinkle with sea salt.

  5. Cook until the spears start to char and turn bright green.

  6. Turn and continue to cook a little longer.

  7. Add the ghee to the pan and toss the asparagus gently to ensure the ghee is evenly distributed.

  8. Remove from heat. Serve over cooked grains with tahini umeboshi sauce.


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 

  1. Add all ingredients, except water, to a bowl or mixing jug.

  2. 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.

  3. 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

2 beetroots, boiled, skin removed and diced

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, washed, leaves removed, roughly chopped

10-12 mint leaves, roughly chopped

½ bunch coriander, washed, leaves removed (optional, could substitute with other herb of choice)

2 spring onions, washed and sliced (green parts only)

2-3 red radishes, sliced thinly

1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced thinly

1/4 cup pickled red onion


Method

  1. In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients.

  2. Gently toss ingredients together with hands.

  3. Pour on dressing and mix again to distribute.

  4. Serve immediately.


Boiled Beetroot

Ingredients

1 bunch beetroot

Water

Sea salt

 

Method

  1. Cut stalks off beetroot and place in a large saucepan.

  2. Cover with water and add a pinch of sea salt.

  3. Place on high heat and bring to the boil.

  4. Reduce heat slightly and allow to cook for 20 minutes, or until the beets are soft. Test with a skewer. You can tell they are cooked when a skewer is inserted into the beetroot and it slides easily off when lifted.


Salad dressing

Ingredients

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp maple syrup

pinch sea salt

cracked black pepper


Method 

  1. Place dressing ingredients in a jar.

  2. Seal jar and shake together to combine.

  3. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.

  4. 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 vinegar

 

Method

  1. Finely slice the red onion.

  2. Sprinkle on salt and mix with fingers.

  3. Add vinegar and massage gently.

  4. Place a weight over the onion and allow to press for at least 30 minutes or overnight. 

  5. 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

  1. Heat a fry pan over low heat.

  2. Add walnuts to the warm pan.

  3. Stir gently until walnuts heat up.

  4. Add maple syrup and pinch of salt.

  5. 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.

  6. Place the walnuts on a sheet of baking paper and allow to cool.

  7. Store in an airtight container when cooled.


Orange and Almond Yoghurt Cake 

Dry Ingredients

1½ cups spelt flour or gluten free flour

1 cup almond meal

1½ tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

 

Wet Ingredients

2 eggs (room temperature)

200g Greek yoghurt

â…“ cup butter, softened

â…“ cup maple syrup

zest 2 oranges

zest 1 lemon

1/3 cup orange juice

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

  2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl.

  3. Add other dry ingredients and mix together. 

  4. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs. 

  5. Add the softened butter, yoghurt, maple syrup, zest and juice. Whisking together until smooth.

  6. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently to combine. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

  7. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 30-40  minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

  8. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 1 hour. Then turn cake onto a cooling rack to continue to cool.

  9. Once cooled, slice and serve the cake with a dollop of yoghurt if desired.

  10. Cake can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated if needed.


Apricot, Orange and Almond Bliss Balls 

Ingredients

1 cup dried apricots (preferably soft - not too dry)

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 tsp orange zest

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp tahini or almond butter

1-2 tbsp water


Method 

  1. Place almonds  into a food processor and blitz until crumbled.

  2. 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 or almond butter. Blitz again to combine.

  3. Gradually add water and blitz again until the mixture holds together well when squeezed.

  4. Take a spoonful of mixture and roll with wet hands into balls. Roll balls in extra coconut if desired.

  5. 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

  1. 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.

  2. In separate bowl mix the cacao powder, goji berries and blitzed almonds and then add to this bowl the blitzed dates.

  3. Add melted coconut oil and blend to combine.

  4. Take spoonfuls and with wet hands roll into balls.

  5. Roll balls in coconut.

  6. Refrigerate until ready to eat.




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