Mixed Cress & Herb Salad Recipe

Posted on by Scott

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the cress that I’ve been growing in my kitchen.  There are so many delicious kinds, I just had to come up the perfect recipe to utilise them.  Well, I didn’t – but I found one in a book which fitted the bill perfectly, so tweaked (read: simplified) it a little bit, and here we have it.

Asian Cress Salad

Cress and Herb Salad

This fantastic little salad recipe was originally known as “Asian salad with pea shoots and sprouts” and was in the book “Asian Bites” by Tom Kime.  It really needed no tweaking, but some of the ingredients were a little difficult to get hold of.  I’m sure I could have got hold of fresh turmeric, for example, had I gone to an Asian Supermarket, but my “after-work” cooking style really doesn’t lend itself to that.  Regardless, I feel it is delicious whether simplified by me or not; give it a try and find out.

This recipe is also my entry to the great food blogging event Weekend Herb Blogging, being held over at The Daily Tiffin.

Cress and Herb Salad Recipe – Ingredients

  • Handful of mixed cress (see my list here for suggestions)
  • 100g bean sprouts
  • Handful of rocket
  • Handful of watercress
  • 1/2 Handful of fresh mint leaves
  • Handful of fresh coriander
  • 1/2 carrot, cut into thin strips (as in the photo) – I added this for a little crunch – feel free to leave out if preferred.
  • 1 whole lime (peeled and segmented)
  • 1 Red Chilli (de seeded and finely chopped)

For the dressing:

  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • Good glug of Extra Virgin olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1tbsp runny honey
  • Salt & pepper, to taste

Cress and Herb Salad Recipe – Method

This one is so easy; simply mix up all the salad ingredients in a bowl.  Mix up all the dressing ingredients in a cup, then pour over the salad ingredients.  Mix up by hand and then serve while fresh, before the lime juice makes the leaves wilt.

Enjoy!

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  • http://summertomato.blogspot.com darya

    Sounds fantastic! I wish I had your home grown stuff to work with :)

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      Well, there’s only one answer to that. Grow your own! Seriously something like this is so cheap, only pennies for a packet of seeds, and only water needed to grow them. Well worth a try.

      • http://summertomato.blogspot.com darya

        ha ha, I don’t think my land lord would let me :) hard to have a garden in a city apartment.

        • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

          Oh, no no…These grow happily on a window ledge in a saucer / plastic pot, etc. You can grow some herbs on your kitchen window ledge, too (I have basil on mine, the rest in the garden). No excuses :p

          • http://summertomato.blogspot.com darya

            I tried to grow basil last year and got exactly 8 microscopic leaves out of it. I think it’s too cold here (SF) in the summer.

            (Btw, may I ask what plugin you are using that sends me emails when you reply to my comment? I love it!)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/salad-recipe Love-a-Salad

    I must say, that looks great, I myself, love making salads, and trying to make new salads.

    The ingredients aren’t so hard to find here, as we have many Asian gourmet shops.

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      Lucky you – I wish everything was so easy to get here. Or rather, I wish things were easy to get when I finish work at 17:30 in the evening :(

      • http://www.squidoo.com/salad-recipe Love-a-Salad

        What time do the shops normally close?

  • http://www.thepassionatecook.com johanna

    oh this looks delicious! i love salads and i am always one to experiment with new dressings, yours sounds lovely with all those warming spices and honey… yay!

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      A salad at this time of year is really refreshing actually – there’s only so much “comfort food” my waist line can take!

  • http://www.mycookinghut.com mycookinghut

    This looks so refreshing! I love all the ingredients!!

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      It is really delicious. Better of course if I could find all of the said ingredients in “fresh” version (herbs no problem. spices are more difficult!).

  • http://gato-azul.blogspot.com louise (gato azul)

    The combination of herbs and cresson is delightful. I have to try the lime, it’s intriguing me. What a good idea to grow your own! :-)

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      The salad is really fresh tasting and all the better for being grown with so little effort. It’s definitely worth it!

  • http://www.norecipes.com Marc @ NoRecipes

    Mmm sounds great. And making substitutions based on what you have on hand is all part of the process. Through this process you sometimes find new combinations that are even better than the original. I must say I’m a bit jealous that you have cress growing in your kitchen. I get hardly any natural light, so short of buying a “grow light” (which is usually associated with more illicit crops), I don’t think I could grow my own cress:(

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      My kitchen is a bit dark, too – but I have a conservatory, which I’m determined is going to help my tomato growing this year!

  • http://www.medcookingalaska.blogspot.com Laurie Constantino

    That salad sounds so crisp and refreshing. Coincidentally, I noticed frozen turmeric at the grocery today. I was surprised to see it.

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      No such luck here, unfortunately. I’d love to see how it smells and tastes when fresh, though.

  • http://www.dandysugar.com lisa (dandysugar)

    This looks so bright and fresh. I love your substitutions.The dressing sounds unique and absolutely delicious!

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      It was lemon juice in the book version if I remember correctly; I enjoyed it with lime as it gave a really interesting twist which worked well with the slices of lime in the salad.

  • http://organicallycooked.blogspot.com maria

    fantastic combination of colours and flavours

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      I agree; it tastes delicious and is well worth trying.

  • http://www.ecurry.com Soma

    Nothing like home grown…That’s a fantastic crispy fresh picture. I see you have used turmeric in the dressing… is that for color or flavor (I didn’t think it had any)?

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      Hi Soma, well the turmeric is mainly for flavour in my opinion. In the original recipe it was fresh turmeric, which I couldn’t get hold of – but I’m sure is even more effective. The powdered turmeric does turn the dressing a bright yellow (but not unpleasant) colour, but also adds a great aroma and slight hint of bitter spice.

  • http://www.storiesfromemona.com Maya

    Maybe it will sound funny but… I’ve never eaten cress yet. How does it taste like?
    It’s nice to hear that people grow greens at home. For the past few years I’ve been doing that myself, too – I’ve been planting spinach, arugula, chilis and numerous herbs which I’ve been growing outside in the balcony and on the window shelves.
    I think it’s time for me to finally find some cress, so that I can try out your salad! it sounds very delicious.

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      I’m not sure how to describe cress – like a cross between grass and pepper? That sounds bad but it’s not, honestly! Basically the taste wont blow your mind but adds a subtle freshness to anything. Some varieties such as mustard cress do have a great taste all of their own though, so it’s well worth growing a variety of them.

  • http://duodishes.wordpress.com The Duo Dishes

    So light and fresh!

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      And tasty!

  • http://www.foodagogo.com/ takeaway

    Many benefits from eating watercress are claimed, such as that it acts as a mild stimulant, a source of phytochemicals and antioxidants, a diuretic, an expectorant, and a digestive aid. It also appears to have cancer-suppressing properties. And after all that even I can grow it!

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      I’ve never tried growing watercress myself, only “normal” cress. I didn’t know about the cancer-suppressing properties though – a great tasting and healthy food!

  • http://www.cooksister.com Jeanne

    This looks fantastic – loads of really zingy flavours going on in there. Very impressed with your cress-growing enterprise!

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      Haha, hardly an enterprise. I can’t see this being the key to seeing me through the recession!

  • http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com Bellini Valli

    The cress would add a lovely peppery flavour to the salad Scott.

    • http://www.realepicurean.com scott

      Hi, it does indeed. My current favourite salad!