Watercress Salad with Apple & Parmesan

This watercress salad makes the leafy green flavor divine! Accompany it with apples, lemon and parmesan shavings for an irresistible accompaniment.

Got a batch of leafy watercress? Here’s a great way to make that healthy green flavor divine: Watercress salad with apples and parmesan! Watercress inherently has a pungent bitter taste. But combine it with lemon, apple and tangy parmesan shavings and you won’t be able to resist another bite! Sweet apple, tangy citrus and flaky salt beautifully balance the bitter greens for a fresh and vibrant side dish. Here’s how to do it and a little more about working with this green leaf!

watercress work

Watercress is a leafy green vegetable with a peppery and bitter flavor. It is a cruciferous vegetable that belongs to the same plant family as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and kale. Watercress is an aquatic plant, so in the wild it tends to grow partially in running water or in flooded areas. The peppery flavor of watercress is similar to that of arugula, so be sure to balance it with sweet, salty, and contrasting flavors.

In 2014, watercress was named the world’s most nutrient-dense food in a CDC study of power fruits and vegetables. It is also one of the oldest documented greens, dating back to ancient Greece and Rome.

When looking for watercress in the store, we recommend that you check the baby or young watercress sold in bags. This has a feather-light texture and a milder flavor (similar to baby arugula). Avoid accumulations of watercresswhich are more mature and can taste extremely bitter.

Ingredients for watercress salad

A good watercress salad combines different flavors and textures: because alone, this leafy vegetable is quite bitter! Try a bite from the bag and you’ll know what we mean. It’s important to use other veggies and fruits to tone down the intensity: sweet apples work wonders here to soften the greens. Here’s what you need:

• Crunchy tart apples (we like Gala or Pink Lady)
• shallot
• cress (sold in bags, not in bundles as per notes above)
• olive oil
• lemon juice and lemon zest
• pieces of parmesan
• Kosher Salt and Flaky Sea Salt

Tips for preparing the salad

Once the ingredients are combined, here are some tips for preparing this delicious watercress salad:

• No need to dress up! Season the watercress with olive oil and lemon juice, then mix with the remaining ingredients. It comes together in a fresh, vibrant salad that tastes more than the sum of its parts! Like our easy arugula salad, there’s no need to make a separate dressing—just toss it around.
• Puff Salt is a nice finishing touch to a salad. This recipe uses both kosher salt and sea salt flakes: but if you don’t have either, don’t worry! You can substitute one or the other. The flaky sea salt acts as a nice finishing salt and gives the mixture a nice crunchy texture.

More green salads

Do you like a good green salad? We have ways to use almost any leafy green. Here are some other salads we love:

This recipe for watercress salad is…

Vegetarian and gluten free. For vegan, plant-based and dairy-free, omit the parmesan.