What spring asks of us (and three recipes to help you answer it)
Spring is not a reset button. It is a slow thaw. And your body knows the difference.
There is a particular pressure that arrives with spring. The world gets lighter, the days get longer, and somewhere in the cultural background noise, a message starts playing on repeat, new season, new start, time to get going.
In my experience, what most of us actually need is not acceleration. It is permission to come out of winter at the pace that works for YOU. To notice where we are before we start building on top of it.
To look at what the last few months asked of us, honestly, and give ourselves some credit for still being here, still showing up, still achieving.
This is what I wanted to write about for this Sunday’s article. Not a spring detox or a fresh start plan.
Just three recipes that feel like the season actually feels, cool and tentative and quietly hopeful, and a conversation about what it means to tend yourself before you ask yourself to show up.
In the Resilience Architect work I do, the first phase is always called The Root System. Before we rebuild anything, we have to look at what is underneath. What is the ground like? Is it stable? What got eroded over the winter that needs some attention before we start building on top of it again?
Food is part of that. Not in a weight-loss or clean-eating sense. In the most literal sense, what are you putting into the engine, and is it actually what the engine needs right now?
The Mediterranean framework I return to again and again in my work is built for seasons like this one. Anti-inflammatory, protein-anchored, genuinely pleasurable to eat. Not a regime. A way of feeding yourself that feels like care.
There are three recipes I come back to every spring. They are not complicated. They are honest, and they do what good food is supposed to do, help you help yourself to come back to you again. To walk yourself back to your balance.
The first is a spring green soup.
This is the kind of soup that tastes like it is doing you good because it is. The peas give you plant protein and fibre. The herbs are doing quiet anti-inflammatory work. The olive oil carries healthy fats to your brain. It takes twenty minutes, and it keeps for three days in the fridge.
RECIPE 1
Spring Green Soup
Twenty minutes, one pot, and it keeps for three days in the fridge. The peas bring plant protein and fibre, the herbs do quiet anti-inflammatory work, and the olive oil carries healthy fats to a brain that has been working hard all winter.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
| 2 large | leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced |
| 1 medium | courgette, roughly chopped |
| 300g | frozen or fresh peas |
| 1 litre | good vegetable stock |
| 20g | fresh mint leaves |
| 20g | fresh basil leaves |
| 3 tbsp | extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish |
| 1 clove | garlic, finely sliced |
| to taste | sea salt and black pepper |
| to serve | crusty sourdough, optional |
METHOD
1 Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and cook gently for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are completely soft and sweet. Do not rush this part. It is where the flavour builds.
2 Add the courgette and cook for a further five minutes until it begins to soften.
3 Pour in the stock, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for ten minutes.
4 Add the peas, mint, and basil. Cook for two minutes, just long enough for the peas to warm through and the herbs to brighten everything up.
5 Remove from the heat and blitz until smooth using a hand blender or in batches in a standing blender. Season generously with salt and pepper.
6 Ladle into bowls, finish with a good swirl of olive oil, and serve with bread if you want it. This is a meal, not a starter.
The second is lemon and herb baked salmon with spring vegetables.
This is my weeknight answer to the question of how to eat well when you do not have much time or energy left at the end of the day. Everything comes out of the oven together. One tray, one wash-up, and something genuinely nourishing on the table in under half an hour. The salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids available, which your brain is asking for after a long winter of stress.
RECIPE 2
Lemon and Herb Baked Salmon with Spring Vegetables
One tray, one wash-up, and something genuinely nourishing on the table in under thirty minutes. Salmon is one of the richest sources of omega-3 fatty acids available, which is exactly what a brain under pressure needs most.
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
| 2 fillets | salmon, skin on (approx 150g each) |
| 200g | asparagus spears, woody ends snapped off |
| 150g | tenderstem broccoli |
| 200g | cherry tomatoes, halved |
| 1 whole | lemon, juice and zest |
| 3 tbsp | extra virgin olive oil |
| small bunch | fresh thyme |
| small bunch | fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped |
| 2 cloves | garlic, thinly sliced |
| to taste | sea salt and black pepper |
METHOD
1 Heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius, 180 fan, gas mark 6.
2 Lay the asparagus, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes on a large baking tray. Scatter over the garlic and thyme, drizzle with two tablespoons of the olive oil, and season well. Toss everything together so it is evenly coated, then spread it out in a single layer.
3 Place the salmon fillets on top of the vegetables, skin side down. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and the lemon juice. Scatter over the lemon zest and season the salmon generously.
4 Roast for fifteen to eighteen minutes, until the salmon is just cooked through and the vegetables have begun to colour at the edges.
5 Scatter the parsley over everything just before serving.
The third is an overnight oat jar with rhubarb compote and pistachios.
Rhubarb is one of the first things out of the ground in spring, and I love it for that reason as much as any other. The slow-release oats keep your blood sugar stable through the morning. The protein in the yoghurt keeps you going until lunch. The pistachios add healthy fats and that satisfying crunch that makes breakfast feel like something worth stopping for.
RECIPE 3
Overnight Oat Jar with Rhubarb Compote and Pistachios
Make the compote on a Sunday, and the oats go in the fridge overnight. In the morning breakfast is already done. The slow-release oats keep your blood sugar stable through the morning. The protein in the yoghurt carries you to lunch. The pistachios add healthy fats and the kind of crunch that makes it feel like something worth stopping for.
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS FOR THE RHUBARB COMPOTE
| 300g | fresh rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 3cm pieces |
| 2 tbsp | honey or maple syrup |
| 2 tbsp | water |
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract |
INGREDIENTS FOR THE OAT JARS
| 160g | rolled oats |
| 320ml | milk of your choice, dairy or nut |
| 4 tbsp | full-fat Greek yoghurt |
| 1 tsp | ground cinnamon |
| 1 tsp | honey, optional |
| 40g | pistachios, roughly crushed |
METHOD FOR THE RHUBARB COMPOTE
1 Put the rhubarb, honey or maple syrup, water, and vanilla into a small saucepan over a medium heat. Stir once to combine.
2 Cook gently for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb has completely broken down and turned a deep, gorgeous pink. It will look like a lot of liquid at first. Keep going. It thickens as it cools.
3 Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely before using. It keeps in a jar in the fridge for up to five days.
METHOD FOR THE OAT JARS
1 Divide the oats between two jars or bowls. Add the milk, Greek yoghurt, cinnamon, and honey if using. Stir well to combine.
2 Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for at least four hours.
3 In the morning, give everything a stir. Spoon a generous amount of rhubarb compote over the top of each jar and finish with the crushed pistachios.
These recipes will not solve everything.
But they will give your body something to work with. And sometimes, in a season of slow thawing, that is exactly the right place to start.
If you want to go a step further and understand where your foundations are right now, my Resilience Blueprint Assessment is the most useful two minutes you will spend this week.
It will show you exactly where your energy is leaking and which areas of your health and resilience need the most attention first.
RESOURCES AND NEXT STEPS
If you’re looking for more support and guidance, here are some valuable resources:
- Book a conversation to see how we can help you with your 2026 plans HERE.
- COMPLETE THE RESILIENCE SCORECARD HERE and get a clear picture of which pillar needs your most attention.
- Use our Flip The Thinking Toolkit HERE and share it with people around you. See how it helps you enrich the connection and conversation.
- Follow along on LinkedIn HERE
- Find out more about our women’s leadership programme HERE