Green Salad
I picked the first of the springtime watercress this weekend. Like most spring herbs, watercress is at its best early in its growth, just when the tender shoots have progressed from the gentle celadon of spring awakening to the youthful fern of these days of the Equinox. Those shoots are not just appreciated by we humans when we find them in our salad bowl, but by many nibblers in the meadow or by the creek, including ducks, deer, and small aquatic life who shelter in the soaked roots.
As it tells you by name, watercress is an aquatic plant. Home gardeners grow it not just in water features but in enriched wet soil. That last is a luxury we’ve only just returned to in southern California, after the welcome of a wet winter that alleviated many of the worries of the drought if not entirely erased them. I took advantage of the watery days between my birthday and Candlemas to clear a space in our city garden, nourish the moist soil, and scatter tiny seeds in the circle that is fancifully called a faerie ring. Throughout the weeks that followed, seedlings of almost poetic delicacy appeared, noticeably strengthening every day. Like many “useful plants,” this herb turns out to be all the stronger for its delicacy, displaying the strength of resilience as the most appropriate of lessons as the Spring Equinox arrives.
One population that definitely understands the power of resilience, residing as they do in the very earth that is moving from slumber as spring awakens, is the snails I care for in our city garden. Most gardeners consider snails pests, but I have as much affection for these tiny weirdos as I do for the hummingbirds and the bees. As the baby cress sent shoots, the snails left it alone, preferring to clamp their powerful jaws onto the sturdy lettuce leaves with which I supplement their simple diet. Watercress is a member of the mustard family, and in the close quarters of the city garden snails, who in wider spaces will inch towards watercress with the determination and nonchalance I find so charming, cannot abide the pungent odor which this mollusk, with one of the keenest senses of smell in the animal kingdom, can detect even if we funny looking bipeds, so naked without our shells, do not.
As an ingredient, watercress is mild and slightly peppery, somewhere in taste and texture between arugula and mâche. It can be part of the fines herbes which crown an omelette at French suppertime, or dressed with lemon and salt as the herb salad served alongside. I have seen watercress sautéed as a side dish along with other oddball greens like dandelion, notably as mixed into the pistou that crowns a spring vegetable fricassee. Fancy lunch rooms still offer cream of watercress soup, as tasteful and luxe as jade. But overwhelmingly, the most common usage for this kitchen herb is as a salad green. Eaten fresh, watercress is at its best when young, but older spears add their character to salads made from sturdy leaves such as the oak lettuce in a Classic Cobb.
Fresh watercress is at the core of a favorite in our urban home: green salad. This is not the chopped green salad of countless weeknight dinner tables, infiltrated as it is by red tomatoes and pink radishes, though we love that too. This is a monochromatic green salad whose balance of flavors, colors, and textures celebrates the new birth amidst equilibrium that is at the heart of the spring equinox. This green salad is balanced between watery shoots of baby cress, spears of delicate endive, curls of fennel and celery, and spikes of green apple. I usually dress this salad in a lemon-herb vinaigrette so that the green flavors shine, and serve it with springy meals like Chicken Piccata or quiche. I have discovered that this salad, when dressed with anchovy vinaigrette, takes on an assertive quality that nicely accompanies spring lamb, pasta, and pizza, so I have included that recipe as well. And since this is a springtime salad column and I am a California cook, I have included the recipe for a California classic as herby and green as this salad: Green Goddess dressing.
Green Salad
Fennel is a sturdy white bulb with a slight licorice flavor; at markets and orchard stands it is sometimes identified as anise. This recipe uses the fennel bulb; use the stalks and fronds for fennel relish. Follow the instructions for using a mandoline slicer exactly. Click here to learn about safety when using knives and other sharp edges in the kitchen.
1 bunch baby watercress
1 head white endive
1 bulb fennel
3 ribs celery
1 green apple
2-3 scallions
1 lemon
Press three lemon halves over a sieve into a bowl. Press the pulp collected in the sieve so that it expresses its oil into the bowl containing the fresh lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt, several grindings of fresh black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano to the fresh lemon juice. Slowly whisk 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil into the lemon juice mixture. Toss with greens immediately.
Anchovy Vinaigrette
Peel and pith one clove garlic and press the garlic into a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons anchovy paste and 1-2 pitted oil-cured olives to the bowl. Use a fork to mash all of the ingredients together until they are very fragrant. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and several grindings of fresh black pepper to the mash; use the fork to whisk the ingredients together until nicely blended. Slowly whisk 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil into the anchovy-olive-vinegar mixture. Toss with greens or drizzle over spears of endive or hearts of Romaine.
Green Goddess Salad Dressing
In a blender, combine 1 cup each fresh chopped parsley and watercress; 2 tablespoons each fresh chopped tarragon and chives, 2 peeled and pithed garlic cloves, 2 anchovy fillets, 2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, several grindings of freshly ground black pepper, and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Safely pulse the mixture until it is thick and very fragrant. Slowly add 1/2 cup mayonnaise, pulsing until the mixture is well combined and smooth. Safely transfer the mixture to a bowl or cruet; serve immediately.
Resources
Fennel Salad with Oranges and Lemon
Ranch Dressing
Urban Home Blog's Guide to Cutting Boards and Knives
As it tells you by name, watercress is an aquatic plant. Home gardeners grow it not just in water features but in enriched wet soil. That last is a luxury we’ve only just returned to in southern California, after the welcome of a wet winter that alleviated many of the worries of the drought if not entirely erased them. I took advantage of the watery days between my birthday and Candlemas to clear a space in our city garden, nourish the moist soil, and scatter tiny seeds in the circle that is fancifully called a faerie ring. Throughout the weeks that followed, seedlings of almost poetic delicacy appeared, noticeably strengthening every day. Like many “useful plants,” this herb turns out to be all the stronger for its delicacy, displaying the strength of resilience as the most appropriate of lessons as the Spring Equinox arrives.
One population that definitely understands the power of resilience, residing as they do in the very earth that is moving from slumber as spring awakens, is the snails I care for in our city garden. Most gardeners consider snails pests, but I have as much affection for these tiny weirdos as I do for the hummingbirds and the bees. As the baby cress sent shoots, the snails left it alone, preferring to clamp their powerful jaws onto the sturdy lettuce leaves with which I supplement their simple diet. Watercress is a member of the mustard family, and in the close quarters of the city garden snails, who in wider spaces will inch towards watercress with the determination and nonchalance I find so charming, cannot abide the pungent odor which this mollusk, with one of the keenest senses of smell in the animal kingdom, can detect even if we funny looking bipeds, so naked without our shells, do not.
As an ingredient, watercress is mild and slightly peppery, somewhere in taste and texture between arugula and mâche. It can be part of the fines herbes which crown an omelette at French suppertime, or dressed with lemon and salt as the herb salad served alongside. I have seen watercress sautéed as a side dish along with other oddball greens like dandelion, notably as mixed into the pistou that crowns a spring vegetable fricassee. Fancy lunch rooms still offer cream of watercress soup, as tasteful and luxe as jade. But overwhelmingly, the most common usage for this kitchen herb is as a salad green. Eaten fresh, watercress is at its best when young, but older spears add their character to salads made from sturdy leaves such as the oak lettuce in a Classic Cobb.
Fresh watercress is at the core of a favorite in our urban home: green salad. This is not the chopped green salad of countless weeknight dinner tables, infiltrated as it is by red tomatoes and pink radishes, though we love that too. This is a monochromatic green salad whose balance of flavors, colors, and textures celebrates the new birth amidst equilibrium that is at the heart of the spring equinox. This green salad is balanced between watery shoots of baby cress, spears of delicate endive, curls of fennel and celery, and spikes of green apple. I usually dress this salad in a lemon-herb vinaigrette so that the green flavors shine, and serve it with springy meals like Chicken Piccata or quiche. I have discovered that this salad, when dressed with anchovy vinaigrette, takes on an assertive quality that nicely accompanies spring lamb, pasta, and pizza, so I have included that recipe as well. And since this is a springtime salad column and I am a California cook, I have included the recipe for a California classic as herby and green as this salad: Green Goddess dressing.
Green Salad
Fennel is a sturdy white bulb with a slight licorice flavor; at markets and orchard stands it is sometimes identified as anise. This recipe uses the fennel bulb; use the stalks and fronds for fennel relish. Follow the instructions for using a mandoline slicer exactly. Click here to learn about safety when using knives and other sharp edges in the kitchen.
1 bunch baby watercress
1 head white endive
1 bulb fennel
3 ribs celery
1 green apple
2-3 scallions
1 lemon
- Rinse the watercress under a stream of cool water to cleanse it of any silt. Gently roll the watercress in paper towels to dry it; be careful not to bruise it.
- Cut the lemon in half and squeeze one half over a sieve into a bowl filled halfway with water.
- Safely cut the endive crossways into rings. Remove the hard core of the endive, and place the cut endive leaves into the bowl containing the water.
- Position an in-sink colander over the sink.
- Safely cut away the calloused root end of the fennel. Safely remove the tough inner core of the fennel.
- Once the fennel is cut and cored, inspect the fennel and remove the outermost layer if it is bruised or tough.
- Cut away the calloused bottom and frilly tops of the celery.
- Position a mandolin slicer on a non-skid surface. Put a cut-resistant glove on the hand you will use on the working surface of the mandolin.
- Follow the usage instructions to safely use the mandolin to slice the fennel bulb and the celery into paper thin slices.
- Safely transfer the thin-cut fennel and celery to the in-sink colander.
- Empty the bowl containing the lemon-water and the endive into the in-sink colander. Gently stir the vegetables together in the colander, and give the colander a good shake. Set the colander back into place to drain.
- Peel the apple. Cut the apple in half; safely cut away the seeds, core, stem. Cut the halves in half to form quarters. Cut the quarters in half to form eighths. Cut across the eight apple segments to form bit-sized pieces.
- Add the cut green apple to the vegetables in the colander. Gently stir the vegetables together in the colander, and give the colander a good shake. Set the colander back into place to drain.
- Cut away the root ends of the scallions. Line the scallions up side by side and safely cut across them to form rings, cutting up from the white bottom of the scallions to about a third of the way up the green tops. Discard any papery skin that comes undone while you cut. Add the cut scallion to the vegetables in the colander.
- When ready to serve, gently tear the watercress into bite-sized pieces and add it to the vegetables in the colander. Give the colander a good shake to mix the salad together and to drain the last of any water.
- Mix one of the vinaigrettes below in a large salad bowl and add the salad to the bowl. Use your hands to turn the salad with the dressing just until coated; serve immediately.
- If serving with Green Goddess, divide the salad mixture among four chilled salad plates and serve the dressing from a bowl or cruet.
Press three lemon halves over a sieve into a bowl. Press the pulp collected in the sieve so that it expresses its oil into the bowl containing the fresh lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt, several grindings of fresh black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano to the fresh lemon juice. Slowly whisk 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil into the lemon juice mixture. Toss with greens immediately.
Anchovy Vinaigrette
Peel and pith one clove garlic and press the garlic into a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons anchovy paste and 1-2 pitted oil-cured olives to the bowl. Use a fork to mash all of the ingredients together until they are very fragrant. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and several grindings of fresh black pepper to the mash; use the fork to whisk the ingredients together until nicely blended. Slowly whisk 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil into the anchovy-olive-vinegar mixture. Toss with greens or drizzle over spears of endive or hearts of Romaine.
Green Goddess Salad Dressing
In a blender, combine 1 cup each fresh chopped parsley and watercress; 2 tablespoons each fresh chopped tarragon and chives, 2 peeled and pithed garlic cloves, 2 anchovy fillets, 2 tablespoons white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, several grindings of freshly ground black pepper, and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Safely pulse the mixture until it is thick and very fragrant. Slowly add 1/2 cup mayonnaise, pulsing until the mixture is well combined and smooth. Safely transfer the mixture to a bowl or cruet; serve immediately.
Resources
Fennel Salad with Oranges and Lemon
Ranch Dressing
Urban Home Blog's Guide to Cutting Boards and Knives
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