Avocado and Watercress Salad

The end of the Eating the Alphabet Challenge is coming to an end soon!  This fun challenge is hosted by Brenda at Meal Planning Magic.  This month's letters were U,V, or W and the challenge is to make a recipe that features a fruit, vegetable, or grain that begins with the month's letters.  This month was a toughy!  There aren't a lot of fruits and veggies that begin with the letters U,V, or W!  I decided to go with watercress.  I'm not sure that I've ever eaten it before (unless it was mixed in some fancy salad that I've eaten!) and I know that I've never cooked with it.  I found this salad recipe and decided to make it to serve with some home-made mac and cheese (recipe coming soon!) for dinner.  It was super easy to put together, though I was definitley surprised at how stemmy watercress is.  The dressing is definitely the key here and is super-tasty-hints of both sweet and tangy.  I was even more suprised when my son, the picky eater, tried his mandatory bite and said that he liked it!  So, we shared the plate of salad pictured below (although he didn't eat the avocado....score!  More for me!).  For lunch we had leftover mac and cheese and I made another plate of salad.  Without even seeing my plate my son requested some of the "green leafy food."  So, he got his own bowl of watercress salad and ate it all! I'm sure this salad would taste great with cut up pieces of apple and maybe even some chicken or shrimp to make it a meal. 

Avocado and Watercress Salad
recipe from Gourmet, May 2008

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tablespoon grated sweet onion such as Vidalia or Walla Walla (use large holes of a box grater)
1/4 cup finely grated peeled Gala apple (use small holes of box grater)
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cups watercress (thin stems and leaves only; from 1 large bunch)
1 firm-ripe avocado

Directions:
Stir together vinegar, onion, apple, soy sauce, and sugar until sugar has dissolved, then stir in oil.

Just before serving, toss watercress with enough dressing to coat. Quarter, pit, and peel avocado, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Gently toss with watercress.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up!