Watercress Soup

For a few weeks now I’ve been down with a nasty cough that just won’t go away. At the behest of friends and relatives, I’ve tried being a good girl and eating right (umm… at least 75% of the time =), and I am getting better, but as yet am not fully recovered.

So when thinking about what to cook for dinner tonight, I decided on some wholesome watercress soup. I had never cooked watercress before, so I thought it would be fun to try. Watercress not only tastes lovely but it’s also full of nutritious benefits. Apparently it contains iron, calcium and vitamins A and C, is a good source of antioxidants (which help prevent heart disease), and serves as a digestive aid and expectorant (i.e. it breaks down mucus). It is also believed to prevent lung cancer. Great stuff =)

Without further ado, here is the recipe I used. In the pictures you’ll see that I used black dates (the types grown in the middle east), but you should be using chinese red dates. I couldn’t find the chinese ones at the last minute and so decided to substitute with them with middle eastern ones. (For the record, the substitutes actually worked fine. The big black dates also provided a nice natural sweetness to the soup, and like red dates have various medicinal properties. But anyway, use Chinese dates!)

Watercress Soup

INGREDIENTS (serves 3 if this is the main/only dish you are cooking):

• 150g carrots (about 2 large carrots), cut into big chunks
• 3 medium potatoes, cut into big chunks
• 200g watercress
• 360g spare ribs
• 1.5 tbsp wolfberries (lycium/qi zi)
• 12 red dates
• 1-3 tsp salt (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring water to boil in a large pot.
2. Add dates, carrots, potatoes, spare ribs and watercress. Bring to boil.
3. Simmer on low heat for 40mins or more (the longer the better).
4. Add in wolfberries, simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Add some salt if desired.
5. Serve with rice.

Nutricious and delicious!