“Water Pepper” on the “Crick”

Drive across any creek bed up here in the Boston Mountains and you’ll find dinner growing. Watercress, also known as “water pepper,” grows especially well out here and adds a “peppery” accompaniment to any garden salad this time of the year. It has hollow stems so it grows very well right down on the creek bed. W. G. Peacock included this to his original recipe for the wonderful vegetable juice V-8 back in the 1933. Over the years they have found that watercress has many beneficial attributes. It can inhibit the growth of breast cancer and lung cancer. It is a natural expectorant, stimulant, and diuretic. It has iodine for the thyroid gland and is a great source for antioxidants. The mountain people used it as a digestive aid for folks with stomach problems.

I like watercress on my fresh garden salads. It adds a peppery snap to a salad!  The next time you cross a “crick” up here in the mountains, stop and pick a handful of watercress for dinner.