Sesame Ginger Watercress & Minted Cucumber Noodles

Sesame Ginger Watercress & Minted Cucumber Noodles

For years, when I thought of watercress, I’d picture fancy ladies enjoying finger sandwiches with tea. I’m sure there’s a literary reason for it…Sense & Sensibility; The Secret Garden; Wuthering Heights? Somebody, in some book I read as a kid, must’ve eaten watercress sandwiches…

BUT, I digress! The truth is, there’s no raised-pinky required to enjoy watercress. The leaves are delicate, but they’re earthy and peppery and when you yearn for spring, they feel like a brave harbinger of sunnier days to come.

Have you seen the new hydroponically grown watercress being sold in our produce department? Produced by employee-owned Pete’s Living Greens in California, this watercress is grown with 85% less water and 70% less land than greens from traditional growers.

When I saw Pete’s watercress in the produce department, I couldn’t resist taking it home and making something with it!

I looked for a recipe that would transcend the usual salad and definitely not involve cooking the watercress. (There are a lot of stir-fry recipes for watercress, but it felt like sacrilege to cook these lovely leaves.) I landed on this recipe from the Boulder Locavore.

The cucumber noodles appealed to my newly-low-carb self and the idea of using mint, mandarin and sesame oil made this seem like something special.

So…I went shopping…

I found everything I needed for this recipe at the Co-op! Have I ever told you how much I appreciate one-stop shopping?!

The first order of business was noodling up some cucumbers. I don’t own a veggie spiralizer, although I’m thinking about getting one. (Do you have one? Would you recommend it?)

So, I used my  peeler to make cucumber noodles.

The more pressure you apply as you go, the thicker your ribbons will be.

I stacked my cucumber ribbons and julienned them to end up with a noodle-ish shape. You’re going to want about 2 cups in total.

I piled the cuke noodles into a colander and sprinkled with a bit of salt in order to draw out some of the extra moisture. Then I got busy making a dressing.

I combined 1 tsp. sesame oil, 2 tsp. rice vinegar, 1 tsp. of fresh mandarin juice, and a few slices of fresh ginger with a pinch of salt in a mason jar.

I usually avoid whisking dressings when I can shake ’em and store ’em in the same little jar.

I let the ginger pieces steep for 20 minutes or so while I constructed the rest of the salad. (Those big hunks of ginger are there to release their flavor into the dressing…we’ll discard them before using the dressing.)

Rather than chop off the watercress and risk bruising the tender leaves, I just pulled the greens off the stems and into a bowl. This is about a half-cup.

I made a chiffonade of mint leaves and added 1/4 cup to the watercress.

I chopped up some almonds that I’d gotten from the bulk bins at the Co-op. You can use already sliced or slivered almonds, if you’d rather. About 1/4 cup of those get added to the salad.

Add the cucumber noodles to the bowl and toss everything with the dressing. (Don’t forget to remove your ginger slices!) Garnish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

All my taste-testers here at the Co-op agreed that this was a delicious way to prepare watercress. The cucumber and mint lend a coolness to the spicy greens and the toasted sesame oil adds an underlying warmth that balances the whole dish. I hope you try making this simple & delicious salad! If you do, drop me a line at social@berkshire.coop and let me know what you think of it!