A Green That Does More Than Garnish

[elleng]

'We know watercress as a garnish here in the United States — just a bit of decorative greenery, like a parsley sprig. That’s a shame.

In France, watercress soup is popular; basically a variant of the soup vichyssoise (potato and leek), with a fair amount of the peppery greens blended with the purée, it is creamy, green and lovely. Or watercress may replace curly endive in the classic bistro salad with bacon, egg and mustard vinaigrette. In Britain, where watercress has been a popular ingredient since Victorian times, dainty watercress sandwiches are standard tea fare, prepared like cucumber sandwiches on buttered slices of crustless white bread.>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/dining/watercress-salad.html?

Watercress Salad With Raw Beets and Radishes

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018756-watercress-salad-with-raw-beets-and-radishes


(Apparently there's a 'bunch' of it growing close to my home; my neighbor picks and cooks with it. I haven't spotted it yet.)

[retrowire]

1. Hmmmm!!! Nt

[Freddie]

2. Watercress with egg salad

On a crusty roll is very yummy. The tastes and textures complement each other.

[Warpy]

3. Chinese pork & pickle soup (which I make with turkey) relies on watercress

for a lot of its peppery flavor. It's one of my favorite soups of all time and easy to make.

As for parsley, I started to eat it when I was a kid and it would show up on plates at restaurants. My parents didn't get it, but it was and is one of my favorite herbs, especially for curbing death breath after a particularly garlicky meal. It was essential to my homemade dumplings as well as in fillings for stuffed manicotti. It's not just a token patch of green on a plate of brown food, it's indispensable for those of us who know its power in fillings, dumplings, soups, potato salad, and the list goes on and on.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Huntsville, AL once advertised itself as "The watercress capital of the world".

Of course, that was before it became "Rocket City, USA".

I grew up in the area, but I've never seen watercress.

[dem in texas]

5. Mexican Salad with Watercress

Mexicans like watercress too. They have a salad that calls for watercress and radishes, dressed with a vinaigrette dressing. When Mexican make vinaigrette, they add a little water to it. Try it sometimes, it makes the taste of the dressing much lighter.

The subject of watercress reminds me of a time, way back in the 1980's when we went camping on a private ranch on the Little Devil's River, about midway between Sonora, Texas and the Mexican Border. This area is now owned by the state of Texas and only a limited number of campers are allowed each year and I can see why. It was magical, tall cliffs with water trickling down, with watercress growing in all the cracks and crevasses. The water fell into the river which had a limestone bottom, and the water was perfectly clear. There was a part of the river for everyone, gentle rapids for the kids that ended in a clear swimming hole. Deeper water for fishing and running trotlines. And the most amazing thing were the caves where the walls were full of Indian drawings dating back hundreds of years.

My Sister and I climbed a little way up the cliffs and picked some of the watercress. We made a salad from the watercress to eat with our fried cat fish that we'd caught in the river.

I always remember that camping trip when I see watercress at Fiesta Market. Think I buy next time I go shopping.