Watercress Salad With Avocado, Orange & Chia Seeds

This zesty Watercress Salad recipe is tremendous nutritious and simple to make. With the addition of antioxidant-rich oranges, dried cranberries and wholesome fat from avocado and chia seeds, it is a nice salad to function a lightweight meal or as a aspect dish to any fundamental dish. It’s gluten-free, Whole30 and vegan-friendly. 

I like making nutrient-dense and wholesome salads and this recipe is an ideal instance of find out how to get a number of helpful vitamins, nutritional vitamins, antioxidants and wholesome fat in a single dish.

This watercress salad options avocado, contemporary orange, dried cranberries and chia seeds as the opposite key elements and is dressed with zesty citrus and Dijon mustard dressing.

In case you’ve by no means had watercress earlier than, here’s what it’s worthwhile to know and why it’s best to put it in your subsequent purchasing record.

What Is Watercress?

Watercress is a leafy salad inexperienced vegetable with deep inexperienced and delicate, rounded small leaves capturing out of lengthy, skinny stems. It’s an aquatic plant, which means it likes to develop in a number of water and is said to mustard leaves. 

The stems and leaves normally are available bunches however you possibly can usually discover baggage of watercress leaves with simply a number of the stems intact. Each the stems and the leaves are edible and nutritious. 

What Does Watercress Style Like?

Watercress has a way more pronounced flavour than say iceberg or gem lettuce. I’d say it’s someplace between wild rocket and child spinach in flavour – somewhat peppery and tangy however not as sturdy as mustard leaves.

Watercress can be utilized uncooked in salads and smoothies or added to soups, quiches and different cooked dishes.

Watercress Vitamin

Whereas I like watercress for its pretty, crisp flavour and the way in which it seems in salads (it has very fairly leaves), it’s the dietary qualities that impress me essentially the most.

Based on this examine, which seems on the world’s prime powerhouse vegetables and fruit (meals most strongly related to diminished continual illness danger), watercress comes up at #1 and will get the best nutrient density rating.

It beats kale, collard greens and broccoli and has extra nutritional vitamins and vitamins per 100-calories serving than different vegetation. Watercress has anti-ageing and detoxifying properties and helps to decrease blood stress.

Have I satisfied you to eat extra watercress but?

How To Put together Watercress

When shopping for watercress, select contemporary, crisp-looking bunches which have crisp-looking, darkish inexperienced leaves. Be sure that to keep away from any wilted or discoloured leaves because it’s an indication the watercress is beginning to go off.

Sadly, watercress is very perishable so I like to recommend consuming it inside a number of days. I hold it in a perforated bag within the fridge (ideally within the crisper compartment so it doesn’t get too chilly).

Alternatively, you possibly can put a bunch of watercress in a glass or jar of water and retailer it within the fridge that means. Cowl the leaves with a plastic bag and it’ll final even longer. I usually consider watercress as herbs, that are additionally fairly delicate and may go off simply.

To make use of a watercress, merely wash it or rinse it below chilly water (leaves and stems) after which shake the entire bunch to eliminate extra water. Trim off any exhausting roots and both tear the leaves and stems off utilizing your hand or minimize them into smaller items with a knife or scissors. 

How To Make Watercress Salad

For this salad, the watercress is roughly minimize up and I’m utilizing the leaves and a number of the skinny stems.

• I bought watercress in a bag so it was already prewashed and able to go. In case you purchase an entire bunch, merely rinse it properly below chilly water and shake off the surplus water.
• Minimize away the more durable stems close to the roots and use them up in a smoothie, soup or stew.
• Minimize the orange peel away with a knife and slice the fruit into bite-sized items. You’ll be able to repurpose the orange peel to make pretty flavoured water. 
• Make the dressing subsequent after which minimize up the avocado simply earlier than serving. Sprinkle with dried cranberries (omit for Whole30) and a few chia seeds, that are filled with Omega-3 fatty acids and fibre. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve. 
• In case you don’t have watercress, you possibly can change it with rocket/arugula and child spinach combination.

Extra Watercress & Salad Recipes

Watercress & Hen Soup by Nom Nom Paleo
Watercress & Goat’s Cheese Crustless Quiche by Free From Heaven
Watercress Salad With Sesame Garlic Dressing from Consuming Nicely
15+ Sugar-Free Salad Dressing Concepts
Beetroot Avocado & Edamame Salad (nice with watercress)
Try my Salad A Day eBook with 45+ nutritious, satiating salads