The other day I bought a bunch of watercress at the market because it looked nice and just a few days before I had spotted some near a ditch in a field in Normandy.
Cress has a spicy taste and it is full of vitamins.
The problem is that you have relatively a lot of stem for a few leaves. That is why in many recipes the cress gets blanched first and then blended into a soup or cream, which somehow drowns the vitamins in calories if there are any vitamins left after cooking.
Raw cress takes a lot of work for cleaning but can yield an interesting salad.
In this recipe, I combine the watercress with potatoes, apples, onion and garlic as well as a fennel bulb, to create a tasty mash that accompanied grilled sardines.
Ingredients
- A bunch of watercress
- A fennel bulb
- Six potatoes
- Three apples
- One onion
- Three cloves of garlic
- Pepper, salt
- Olive oil, water
Steps
- Wash and pick the cress so that you only keep the leaves, dry them in a spinner.
- Peel the potatoes and put them in a pan with water, cook for 20 minutes.
- Clean and cut the fennel, put in a pan with water and cook for 15 minutes.
- Peel and quarter the apples.
- Peel and mince the onion.
- Peel and press the garlic.
- Put the cooked potatoes, fennel and apple in a bowl and mash (you can use a plunger blender). Add some liquid like water or stock to soften the mash.
- Heat some oil in a wok or large skillet, add the onion and garlic and stir until it starts to colour, add the cress and cook briefly while stirring.
- Add to the mash and mix.
- Twist some pepper, check for salt.