AN UNDERRATED superfood has been hailed as the healthiest vegetable on Earth – and it creates the “most delicious” soup.
You’d be forgiven for assuming that kale or spinach would top the list for number one veg.
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But it’s actually the humble watercress, packed full of nutrients, that has received the top gong from agriculture and nutrition experts.
The Centre for Diseases and Control (CDC) assigns nutrition density scores to foods based on their concentration of essential vitamins and minerals.
And the only vegetable to earn a perfect score of 100 is watercress, making it the healthiest veg in the world according to Delish.
The superfood is low in calories, fat free and packed with vitamins and minerals.
To introduce watercress to your diet, TV chef Raymond Blanc recommends a simple soup that is a “bowl of health” on a winter’s day.
The best part? It takes less than 15 minutes to make from prep to cooking.
Speaking on his BBC show Kitchen Secrets, Raymond says: “I love watercress. I use it in many ways, not just meaningless garnishes but in my food whether it’s herb purees or soup. There’s so many wonderful ways to use it.
“It is a very strong flavour packed with masterful flavours and pepperiness, it is absolutely delicious.
“Watercress should have a much bigger place in our [kitchen] than just being a garnish.”
To make the watercress soup, melt some butter in a saucepan and cook half a chopped onion and one garlic clove for three minutes.
Then increase the heat and add 300g of watercress alongside a pinch of salt before covering with a lid and cooking for 30 seconds.
Next up, add around 100g of spinach and cook for a further two minutes, or until wilted.
Pour in 500ml of boiling water after this and simmer for three minutes.
Raymond then hails his next step as his “little secret” to get the most flavour out of the veg.
He says: “I stop the cooking [process] with ice. That’s a little secret so you can retain the flavour, colours, texture and nutrients.”
For this recipe, 500g of ice is enough to lock in the vitamins, minerals and flavour.
The healthiest fruit and veg you can eat
According to the Centre for Diseases and Control, the below are the healthiest fruits and veg you can eat.
This is based on nutrition density scores which assess the vitamin and mineral content of each food, marked out of a possible 100 points.
VEG
- Watercress, 100
- Chinese cabbage, 91.99
- Chard, 89.27
- Beet green, 87.08
- Spinach, 86.43
FRUIT
- Red pepper, 41.26
- Pumpkin, 33.83
- Tomato, 20.37
- Lemon, 18.72
- Strawberry, 17.59
Bottom of the vegetable list was sweet potato, scoring just 10.51. For fruits, it was grapefruit, which scored 10.47.
Finally, blitz up the soup in a blender until smooth and simmer until piping hot again.
To serve, add in a swirl of creme fraiche and salt and pepper to taste.
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Raymond concluded: “If you want to make it really simple, remove the spinach, onion and garlic. Just have water and watercress and I assure you it will still be delicious.
“It’s a bowl of health. The most delicious soup.”
