Watercress Salad with Pignoli and Currants Recipe

I’ve been on a salad jag this summer. It’s not just because my delicate appetite (cough) permits only the tiniest leaves, beans and nut morsels during hot weather. Or because I want to avoid raising temperatures further in my already Inferno-esque railroad kitchen.

It’s because of 101 Cookbook’s salads. I’m completely smitten with Heidi Swanson’s salads combining unusual—sometimes downright counter-intuitive—elements. Like wheat berries and arugula pesto. Or chickpeas, pintos and black beans in a honey balsamic dressing.

Her green salads are never plain old. They’re punctuated with a crunch of nuts, seeds or croutons. Smidges and shavings of flavorful cheeses. And extra virgin olive-oil-based dressings that zing with citrus juices and zests and specialty vinegars.

In the 101 Cookbooks spirit, I’ve been experimenting more with greens. Watercress is my current favorite. It feels like a very grown-up gustatory step: As a child reared in northern California, I gathered watercress from streams while tagging along on field trips led by my father, a marine biologist. Intoning its Latin name, my father assured me Nasturtium officinale‘s muddy leaflets taste delicious.

Yeah, right. About as tasty as a tadpole.

But now that my palate is more, er, sophisticated, I can’t get enough watercress.

How to make a perfect, sand-free watercress salad

The trick to a delicious cress salad is washing the greens thoroughly. Don’t just splash the cress with water and toss in a salad spinner. You’ve got to soak the watercress in a large bowl or sink filled with cold water. Swish gently to dislodge all the sand hiding on stalks and leaves.



Then tear off the thick ends of the stalks—the tender upper stalks are fine to eat. Toss the watercress into the salad spinner basket, give one last rinse of cold water and whirl the cress in the spinner. If you don’t intend to eat the watercress immediately, store it wrapped in paper towels within an air-tight container in the fridge.

Warning: Though watercress is commercially farmed, it still looks, tastes, and expires quickly, like wild greens. Be sure to eat cress within a day or two of purchase.

The appeal of sweet, sour, chewy, crunchy salads

Watercress Salad with Pignoli and Currants is dressed with Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing. I won’t keep you in suspense, honey is the mystery ingredient in this go-to dressing that works deliciously with a wide variety of salads and cuisines. The dressing’s sweet-sour-salted-fermented flavors are perfect with this salad’s peppery greens, sweet and chewy currants and salty, aged Parmesan cheese.



But don’t feel married to pignoli and Parmesan. Use the recipe as a springboard to make similar sweet, sour, chewy, crunchy salads. After tossing watercress with Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing, add and combine any of the following:

• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Toasted almonds
• Chevre cheese, cut into tiny bits
• Fontina, Gouda or Gruyere, shaved
• Dried figs, cut into small cubes
• Raisins
• Prunes, finely chopped

Watercress Salad with Pignoli and Currant Recipe

1 head of watercress, well washed
¼ cup pignoli, raw or toasted
¼ cup dried currants
¼ cup coarse-grated Parmesan Cheese
Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing, to taste. (Recipe below)

1. In a salad bowl, gently combine first 4 ingredients.
2. Toss with dressing to coat all ingredients. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-4.

Copywriters’ Kitchen Secret Ingredient Salad Dressing Recipe

Mix together:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
Juice of 1/2 lemon—about 2 tablespoons
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Makes about 3/4 cup dressing.