I’ve officially entered into the year of eating more greens. So I made a pilgrimage to my favorite local Asian market to find a different green to use for a salad. Watercress was my green of choice. Considering I had never eaten watercress before it was a sense of adventure for me.
Watercress is a green which is related to the mustard green, arugula, and cabbage family. It has a sharp tangy, peppery flavor which has a bit more flavor than your average green.
Watercress is associated with:
- A nutrient dense food
- Helps to control cholesterol
- Contribute to weight-loss
- A good source of A, B6, C, E, and K
- High in minerals calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and manganese.
With watercress being the base of the salad, it also consists of red onions, sliced radishes, cucumber slices, tomatoes, shredded carrots, chopped dill, and my new found grain wheat berries.
Now, the wheat berry is a food that’s also new on the food spectrum. I first ran across wheat berries when I purchased a pre-packaged salad at a trendy grocery store a few years ago. Through my research I discovered that wheat berry is actually an ancient round grain, that’s actually whole wheat which has a creamy, nutty taste that is crunchy and high in fiber. To soften this grain it has to be cooked for close to an hour, but it’s well worth the time to cook it.
Watercress and wheat berry is sure to bring a refreshing change back to the dinner table. This salad would be ideal as a main salad for lunch or the addition of a side dish for dinner. The wheat berries can keep for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. It can be added as a filler in yogurt, apple sauce, soups, and other areas of food preparation.
Subscribe to The Crafty Boomer and never miss another post!
- ½ cup uncooked wheat berries
- 2 cups water, or more if needed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 bunches watercress, cleaned and chopped
- ½ English cucumber, sliced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- ½ teaspoon dill, chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil or (1 teaspoon dried basil)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Fill a saucepan half full with water, then bring the water to a boil. Season the water with salt. Rinse and add the wheat berries to the water, cook for 1 hour until the wheat berries are soft.
- Remove from heat, drain, and allow the wheat berries to cool.
- Placed the wheat berries in a bowl. Wash the watercress remove the stems, and tear the larger leaves apart. Add the watercress, cucumbers, shredded carrot, dill, onions, and radishes to the bowl with the wheat berries. Toss and combine.
- Divide the salad equally between the four plates.
- Place the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil, garlic, red pepper, salt and, black pepper in a jar with a lid and shake until combined.
- Dress each individual salad with the vinaigrette dressing. Enjoy!
