Watercress Salad & the Most Rockin' Christmas Tree. Ever.

watercress from Anne Arundel County farmer's market today

Leafy dark green watercress, extremely high in Vitamin K and very high in A and C as well, significantly decreases DNA damage changing cancer risk dramatically if you eat enough of it. Luckily, it is tangy spicy and delicious too.  I used to love the watercress salad at Caravan of Dreams, it was my favorite NYC salad for a very long time until a drastic menu change left me high and dry.

I am finding also that somehow large scale farms and small hydroponic growers alike have watered down the  greens which are known for growing near streams in the wild, so I am certain those varieties do not pack the punch of good dark curly traditional looking watercress.  When I was growing up my mother went through a stage of liking watercress with Russian dressing.  Gross!!! I can barely write Russian dressing without a small gag reflex kicking in.

Watercress improves detox because of its heavy antioxidants (isothiocycanates) which may prevent cancer and lower cholesterol.  This, of course, also gives it its distinct pungent flavor.  So, I love it but sometimes find an earthy variety difficult to locate.  My good local health food store, Natural Frontier, often has a very dark leafy kind and Whole Foods sometimes does as well.  The Union Square farmer's market has a few hydroponic varieties that are good but not as strong as the rest.  And, today at my local Anne Arundel County farmer's market I stumbled on a huge spread of the very dark, leafy, curly, beautiful kind so a bought a few bunches, thus, the beautiful salad.  I added mustard greens, dark old fashioned spinach (another vegetable whose look has changed in large scale farms), broccoli greens and a few beet greens.  Plus a scallion and a quarter of an apple, julienned nicely.

high power watercress salad with mustard greens, beet greens, and spinach

So, I would love to get Perry to eat it in an effort to prevent further incidences of cancer but she has kind of lost her taste for such things...must work on this.   So, I will admit that Perry thinks it is disgusting (her word, not mine)... So, they are having a Thai food pig out while I am writing about leafy greens...hmm.  OK I admit to a bunch of Thai vegetables too...it is shaping up to be a one meal day.  Nearing Christmas, there is no better time to bulk up on vegetables, pass up desserts and keep the heavier foods moving on through...

To pick a good batch, look for dark and medium green, fresh leaves with lots of stem.  Yellow leaves are not as desirable but hey, beggars can't be choosers, so I did get a touch of yellow mixed in.

Watercress is also good steamed and lightly stir fried and blends well with other greens.  I might need to sneak it into a smoothie or something to get the kids to go for it.  I will try to replicate a good Caravan of Dreams dressing and turn these kids into believers.

it can make women more youthful (it really said that in a watercress article, I am not making that up.) but will it work on me? check back in a few more years...

lizzie relaxing post basketball...is basketball supposed to look a lot like monkey in the middle?