La cena ligera — the light evening supper
Watercress and Garden Baby Greens Salad
RemedyReconstruction🍋 ☕facile15 min
A clean, tonic salad: the peppery bite of watercress, tender baby greens, a clear lemon and oil vinaigrette. Light as an evening supper.
Why this dish? O'Keeffe grew herbs and greens in her garden and linked her health to a fresh, plant-based diet; a lively salad of watercress and baby greens embodies this regimen she credited for her longevity.
In the evening, I want nothing heavy. I go to the garden while it's still light, cut the watercress and a few tender shoots, shake off the earth. A drizzle of oil, lemon, salt — that's it. You chew, it's alive, it stings a little on the tongue. I truly believe it's these greens, and the dry desert air, that have kept me standing so long.
Ingredients
- •Fresh watercress — a bunch (peppery base)
- •Baby greens and herbs from the garden — a handful (tenderness, freshness)
- •Oil — a drizzle (dressing)
- •Lemon — juice of half (acidity)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
How it was made : Picking greens just before the meal guaranteed their freshness and vitamins: in 20th-century households devoted to natural health, the raw evening salad was almost a principle of hygiene.
Sources : Margaret Wood, A Painter's Kitchen: Recipes from the Kitchen of Georgia O'Keeffe, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1997