Watercress
This delicate mustard green has a mild peppery punch, perfect for salads, soups, and sautés. Also known as berro, watercress is one of many quelites, highly nutrient dense native greens that grow wild along waterways throughout the Americas.
What is watercress?
There are many different types of cress mustard greens that grow native throughout the Americas, and watercress specifically is known for its larger round leaves and an almost nasturtium-like peppery flavor. Pretty much any dish you would use arugula or mizuna mustard for, you can substitute watercress.
Watercress is an incredible crop because it thrives during cold winter and spring months when many other delicate greens like lettuce are no longer available. To have a delicate winter green that isn’t tough like kale and collard greens is such a treat to be grateful for! With its hollow stems, early morning watercress harvest includes a chorus of little popping sounds as farmers snap each stem to form perfect little bundles.
How do you prepare watercress?
You can make watercress salads, often paired with spring radishes, late winter pears or apples, and queso fresco. Watercress also makes for the perfect bed on your plate underneath a cut of meat or fried eggs in the morning, the heat wilting it down just enough to soften.
Traditionally, watercress is often simply sauteed with eggs and eaten with tortillas, or tossed into hot broths and soups at the end of the cooking process just to soften it slightly, making for a super rich and nutrient dense soup. And just like any other green, you can always blend it up with nuts and oil and make a pesto.
What part of watercress do we eat? Should watercress be eaten raw or cooked?
Both stems and leaves of watercress are edible both raw and cooked. To retain its nutrient content, it’s best to eat watercress raw or just lightly cooked. The stems are a little tougher than the leaves and soften up better in soups than they do in salads. You can always remove the stems in salads if you just want the delicate leaves, but you can easily give the whole bunch a rough chop, stems and all, and they add a pleasant crunch.
Watercress Recipes and More:
