Watercress soup

Went grocery shopping today at Hannaford's and they had watercress!   This wonderful food is not readily available around here so it's a treat to find it.  Watercress is an excellent source of vitamins A, C & K and a good source of calcium.  Score!  It wasn't organic but no preservatives were added - I washed it thoroughly in a colander and removed the tough stems.

Here's the recipe for four servings:  Dice one onion and one potato and add to heated oil in your soup pan.  I have begun using coconut oil for its health benefits. Work the oil through the vegetables and then cover and simmer for five minutes.

Add two cups of chicken broth and a cup of milk (I cheated and used half and half) and your seasonings.  I used a blend of sea salt, cracked black pepper and garlic that I bought at the Sherrill Farmer's Market the other day from Goat Orchard Farms (www.goatchardfarms.com).  I also squeezed some fresh lemon juice into it.

Bring the vegetables to a boil and then simmer uncovered for ten minutes until the potatoes are tender.  In reviewing multiple recipes on the internet, I discovered that you can use wine or vegetable broth, change up the quantities of everything.  Adjust it to your taste and preference.  It's all good. 

Add the watercress (I also threw in some organic baby spinach) and simmer for four to five minutes until the watercress is tender. The recipe I found called for a pound - the package I got was only four ounces so it's probably not as green as it could be.


Get out your immersion blender and blend until smooth.  That didn't go so smoothly, however. The watercress and spinach kept sticking to the blender!


You can eat this healthy soup hot or cold.  On a hot day like today, it's very refreshing to have cold but I can't wait for it to chill as it's 7 p.m. already.  I'm having a locally baked pumpernickel roll with it.  Time to eat!

Many people would prefer a nice chilled white wine.....I'm just a dry red person no matter
what's being served.  Or not.

And isn't this Tudor Rose soup bowl from Dalton's (www.daltons.com) just perfect?