It was an afternoon filled with incredible flavors and the invigorating scents of fresh herbs, aromatic oils, cheese and exotic ingredients during Shape Malaysia’s Shape Your Life Workshop in January.

Participants gamely tried their hand at preparing simple, healthy dishes with the help Ekichai Urairat, a London-based chef and director of The Yogitree, The Gardens, where the workshop was held. The best part: they got to devour every delicious morsel afterwards.

First up on the menu was Urairat’s Vietnamese Wrap with Gomarterek (Japanese Peanut Sauce)—a fresh, herby wrap contrasted with chunky chicken fillet slices and a spicy peanut sauce.

This was followed by the Mediterranean Bean Salad with Pesto Sauce, which featured a colorful, anti-oxidant rich variety of vegetables, including eggplant, yellow and green courgettes, carrots, red and green peppers, chick peas and lentils. These were topped with a savory yet spicy pesto sauce blended with parmesan cheese, olive oil, a generous helping of fresh garlic, and pine nuts.

The result: a salad that was fresh on the palate yet rich in texture and flavor.

For dessert, Urairat demonstrated how to make his delightfully refreshing Fruit Orange with Fresh Mint and Rosewater Dressing, which was simply chilled and cut orange slices tossed in fragrant rosewater.

While the chef and his assistants took care of the food, nutritionist Dino Goh took charge of addressing the participants’ nutrition concerns. His theme for the day: boosting your metabolism. To cap off the workshop, the participants were treated to informative talks by Elaine Khoo—brand manager of Rilax, and Florence Chan—marketing manager of TruDtox, both from LiveLife, on the importance of detoxification and stress relief.

“I found the workshop really interesting,” said participant Wong Fong Yee from Kuala Lumpur. “The environment was very relaxed, unlike a classroom and the speakers were very engaging.” Nurulashikin Mohammed of Shah Alam found the food segments most enjoyable. “It gave me a good idea of how make healthy, great tasting food.”