The CDC Named This Underrated Vegetable the Healthiest, but It’s Been My Favorite for Decades

Watercress has been my vegetal boo since I was but a wee girl of nine, salivating wide-eyed at the latest missive from my culinary hero, Martha Stewart. Her magazines were full of vegetables and herbs I’d never seen in a grocery store, and I was entranced: chervil minced into fines herbes or Belgian endive as the base of an inconceivably glamorous hors d’oeuvre (Ms. Stewart would never deign to call them appetizers). However, if there is an emblem of classic ’80’s Stewart, it is the watercress tea sandwich, cut with laser precision into perfect identical triangles, each cross section a colorway of bisque, cream and chartreuse straight out of a design catalog. And that is how I fell in love with watercress—growing it, finessing it and eating it. That was forty years ago, and if you would pass along to Ms. Stewart that I am now the proud custodian of a perennial watercress patch that I harvest from year round, I’d be chuffed.

If you are sleeping on watercress, I beseech you to proffer it up to the kitchen muse. Watercress has the peppery-but-not-too-spicy allure of arugula, the crunch of jicama, and the satisfying texture of a crispier clover. To bite into a watercress sandwich is as pleasurable an experience as one can consume in such a dainty format—the snap of the ’cress, the silkiness of good cream cheese and the pillowy bread (crustless, duh).

Health Benefits of Watercress

Cards on the table, nutritional benefits have never convinced me to cheerfully consume fellow greens like kale or spinach, but watercress is no slacker in the health department—in fact, the CDC has even declared it the most nutrient-dense vegetable. It’s packed with vitamins C, K and to a lesser degree, vitamins A and B6. Vitamin K is particularly important for women, increasing bone density, which my nana is constantly yapping my ear off about (but the lady does still have her original, direct-from-the-manufacturer hip bones, which she insists is a much-envied position at her senior community). Watercress is 95% water (the other 5% is just magic fiber), so this snappy green leaf can hydrate you. If your focus improves after that sandwich, it might be because of the lutein and zeaxanthin, which are similar to beta-carotene. These types of nutrients may also help stave off macular degeneration.

Ways to Use Watercress Beyond the Tea Sandwich

Don’t let my adoration of the delicate tea sandwich distract you—I’ve found a hundred ways to bring watercress into my menus. If you suffer from salad ennui as I tend to on occasion, mix some ’cress into your greens. It adds a bright, crispy, peppery flavor and a snappy texture. If you need a simple side salad to dress the plate, skip the mix altogether and go whole hog on the watercress, with a warm chevre crouton, some lardons (if you like), a simple splash of excellent olive oil and Maldon sea salt flakes.

If you’re using wine, jus or another form of acid to cut the fat of your roast beef, for a fresh take, lay the roast on a bed of watercress tossed with a sumptuous mustard vinaigrette instead. Watercress is protein-flexible, too (it is 2024, after all). Guests have marveled at how this application complements pork roasts, roasted chicken and even the roasted mushrooms I prepare for my vegetarian brethren.

I am a soup-making machine from November through February, when watercress soup hits the stovetop once a month. My version is a simple twist on potato-leek, and you can play with the ratios of liquid and potatoes to greens to get a looser broth with a glitter of green within it, or you can load up the cress and blitz it to achieve a unified, bright verdant bisque. I generally enjoy the latter and in summer will sip it chilled like vichyssoise.

If you enjoy a stir-fry (I definitely do), watercress is an imaginative but sensical sub for tung ho (chrysanthemum greens), pea shoots, spinach or green beans. When cooked, watercress is definitely more vegetal and less peppery but absorbs and amplifies garlic, ginger and soy sauce and is particularly well paired with sesame oil. I’ve even noodled around with plum sauce or hoisin in small amounts to play against the mild nuttiness of the watercress.

Where to Find Watercress

If you’re currently racking your brain trying to figure out where in your grocery store the watercress lives, let me swoop in with an assist. I find that most supermarkets don’t stock it regularly, though one could certainly ask. I have been most successful finding watercress in the wild at Asian grocers, where you should look among the greens and herbs. People do forage for watercress—it can be found alongside creekbeds—but that requires hiking, which I have big feelings about. I urge you, instead, to rise to the level of effort and triumph of Martha herself and plant yourself a patch of your own. Watercress is achievable to grow from seed; loves a moist, compost-rich but well-draining spot in your yard; and is winter-hardy. I keep a cloche over it through the worst of winter so I can continue to harvest from it.

As with most herbs I grow, once I don’t have to buy watercress in quick-to-expire grocery store bunches, it becomes second nature to grab a handful fresh from the yard and try it in new applications. If you like that post-Thanksgiving turkey sammich, adding watercress along with the cranberry relish is going to give you goosebumps. A juicy summer tomato sammy is transcendent with the pepper of some raw watercress and a sweet Kewpie mayo to play off of. In fact, lean into that sweetness and marry watercress to strawberries for a summer salad that will smack your tastebuds awake.

Despite the limitless, untapped potential of this perpetually sparkling microgreen, nine times out of ten I will fall back to the simplest refreshment. Fluffy fresh bread sliced evenly, a serviceable slather of whipped cream cheese (perhaps with some chives) and a cloud of watercress.  Occasionally I play with fire and layer in some smoked salmon. And I always, always cut the crusts off. Martha would.