Feeding my family by way of mid-winter foraging always feels like a triumph. Although there’s little in the garden these days, when we go on hikes on our hill, we find water cress in the places where the springs are running freely. The winter rains have been incessant, so this year the cress is abundant.
We collect handfuls of it each week and turn it into a spicy pesto the kids love on pasta. It’s a quick dinner for a busy mama to make.
Water Cress Pesto (a.k.a. Water Cresto)
4 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Cup Walnuts or Pine Nuts
(put the garlic and nuts in your food process or and run it until they’re completely turned into small bits) Add:
1 1/2 – 2 Cups Water Cress, washed
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4-1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese (in small chunks)
Process the rest of the ingredients together until you have nice green paste. Toss it with your favorite pasta.
Enjoy!
Pioneering The Simple Life 
This green paste looks somewhat similar to our Indian Coriander/Mint leaves chutney 🙂
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Oh, please share the recipe here! We have lots of mint in the garden.
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Alright Here’s a recipe that i found from the internet for Mint Chutney (India). Do try making it if you would love to and don’t forget to let me know 🙂
What you’ll need :
Mint Leaves – 1 cup, tightly packed
Scraped Coconut – ¾ cup, tightly packed
Green Chilly – 1
Tamarind – small piece
Channa Dal/Yellow split peas – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Oil – 1 tsp
For Tempering :
Oil – ½ tsp
Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
Method :
Wash the leaves well and allow to drain.
Heat a small pan with a tsp of oil, add the channa dal/yellow split peas and fry till the dal turns golden.
Now add the tamarind, slit green chilly and the mint leaves along with turmeric powder and fry till the leaves are wilted. Set aside to cool.
Grind the above with the coconut into a smooth paste adding water as required.
Add salt to taste and mix well.
Heat a frying pan with oil and splutter with mustard seeds. Pour over the chutney.
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