watercress

Watercress Salad

Ingredients:

1 pint watercress
1 red onion
French dressing

Pick over the leaves of the cress, removing all bruised or wilted ones, wash and drain. Break the stems into small two inch pieces with your fingers. Place cress in a salad bowl, top with thinly sliced onion and your favorite French dressing.

Variations: Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. You may mix the cress half and half with dandelion greens as well and use the same recipe.

Watercress Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups cress
paprika
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Brown bread

Wash, dry and tear the watercress into bite size pieces. Sprinkle the watercress with salt and paprika, then mix with mayonnaise. Lay between sliced of brown bread and cut into small triangles.

Variation: Mix 3 hard cooked eggs into the cress and chop both finely. Spread on thin slices of buttered wheat bread.

Watercress Soup

Ingredients:

1 quart chopped watercress
1 quart stock of your choice
1 cup whole milk, half and half or cream, heated
small onion, shredded, or processed fine
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper and nutmeg to taste

Wash the cress well, and chop fine (keeping the stems on). Mix the chopped cress and your stock; cook about 30 minutes and puree in blender, processor or you can press through a strainer with a wooden spoon. Mix the flour with the butter, then add along with the your heated milk, onion and seasonings to the broth. Bring to a light boil and cook two minutes. Makes 5 servings.

About the Author
Brenda Hyde is a freelance writer, editor, herb gardener and mother to three children. For more garden recipes and tips visit her at OldFashionedLiving.com.



Watercress
(raw)
Broccoli
(raw) Broccoli
(boiled) Tomato
(raw) Apple
(raw)
Nutrient
Calories (kcal) 18 26 19 14 38
Protein (g) 2.4 3.5 2.5 0.6 0.3
Fat (g) 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.2 0.1
Fibre (g) 1.2 2.1 1.8 0.8 1.4
Beta-carotene (mcg) 2016 460 380 451 14
Vitamin A equivalent (mcg) 336 (42%) 77 (10%) 63 (8%) 75 (9%) 2 (0.3%)
Vitamin B1 (mg) 0.13 (9%) 0.08 (6%) 0.04 (3%) 0.07 (5%) 0.02 (2%)
Vitamin B6 (mg) 0.18 (9%) 0.11 (6%) 0.09 (5%) 0.11 (6%) 0.05 (3%)
Vitamin C (mg) 50 (83%) 70 (117%) 35 (58%) 14 (23%) 5 (8%)
Vitamin E (mg) 1.17 (12%) 1.04 (10%) 0.88 (9%) 0.98 (10%) 0.47 (5%)
Folate (mcg) 36 (18%) 72 (36%) 51 (26%) 18 (9%) 1 (0.5%)
Vitamin K (mcg)* 200 81 113 6 2
Calcium (mg) 136 (17%) 45 (6%) 32 (4%) 6 (0.8%) 3 (0.4%)
Iodine (mcg) 12 (8%)** 1.6 (1%) 1.6 (1%) 1.6 (1%) Not known
Iron (mg) 1.8 (13%) 1.4 (10%) 0.8 (6%) 0.4 (3%) 0.1 (0.7%)
Magnesium (mg) 12 (4%) 18 (6%) 10 (3%) 6 (2%) 4 (1%)
Manganese (mg) 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1
Phosphorus (mg) 42 (5%) 70 (9%) 46 (6%) 19 (2%) 9 (1%)
Potassium (mg) 184 296 136 200 96
Zinc (mg) 0.6 (4%) 0.5 (3%) 0.3 (2%) 0.1 (0.7%) 0.1 (0.7%)
Lutein and Zeaxanthin (mcg)* 4614 1353 1214 98 23
Selenium (mcg) 1.6** Trace Trace Trace Trace
Quercetin (mcg)*** 6000 2000 168 472 3416

Data Sources:

Food Standards Agency (2002) McCance & Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods, 6th Summary Edition. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry.

* U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 19, 2006.

** Direct Laboratories analysis of watercress, 2006.

*** USDA Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods, Release 2, 2006.


SUMMARY - per average portion (80g edible weight)

Compared to raw and boiled broccoli, raw tomato and a raw apple:

Watercress is the better source of vitamins B1 and B6, vitamin E, beta-carotene and vitamin A equivalents, iron, calcium and zinc (very small differences for zinc)
For vitamin C, magnesium, watercress is a better source than all of the others listed, except for raw broccoli (but this isn't the way that it's typically consumed in the UK)
All are low in calories and fat.