17 Watercress Recipes We're Just Wild About

In Season: Watercress is available year-round, but it peaks from April through June.

What to Look For: Watercress is a dark, leafy green with thick stems and a peppery taste that mellows once it’s cooked. Look for healthy, green leaves and sniff for a fresh, spicy scent.

How to Store: Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to four days.

How to Prep: Snip off the lower stems and, holding the bunch upside down, swish the leaves in a bowl of cold water. Shake or spin dry.

You want to make this salad when watercress is at its peak, as white-wine vinaigrette is the only other ingredient. Use it to round out any spring menu.

The heat from just-cooked jasmine rice wilts a whopping three cups of fresh watercress in no time. The resulting side dish makes a spectacular accompaniment for juicy pork tenderloin glazed with orange marmalade, fish sauce, fresh lime juice, garlic, and ginger.

Don't let basil have all the fun! Watercress makes a delectable pesto, too, when paired with toasted pine nuts, lemon zest, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Toss with better-for-you farro spaghetti and more watercress.

Watercress stands in seamlessly for lettuce in this breakfast-ready twist on BLT. It joins Canadian bacon, juicy Campari tomatoes, and fried eggs on brioche toast.

Store-bought whole-wheat pizza dough makes putting this pie together a cinch. Top with ricotta, mozzarella, asparagus, and red onion, bake, and finish with watercress and red-pepper flakes.

Is it tea time yet? Because we're dying to serve these sophisticated yet unfussy crackers topped with salmon salad, thinly sliced avocado, and crisp watercress leaves. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Finely chopped watercress and prepared horseradish offset the richness of the yolks in these spring party-ready deviled eggs.

Peppery watercress, sweet golden beets, spicy radishes, cool avocado, and fresh chives are tossed in a lively red-wine vinaigrette and topped with luxe Humboldt Fog goat cheese in this salad that's fancy enough for company.

Watercress dressed in lemon juice and olive oil makes a lovely textural contrast to the crisp potato pancake sitting underneath it in this elegant brunch recipe.