{"id":77927,"date":"2009-12-12T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2009-12-12T15:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/?p=9576"},"modified":"2009-12-12T10:00:26","modified_gmt":"2009-12-12T15:00:26","slug":"watercress-bacon-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/77927","title":{"rendered":"Watercress Bacon Soup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"Watercress Bacon Soup\" src=\"http:\/\/i247.photobucket.com\/albums\/gg158\/MDA2008\/MDA2009\/watercress_soup.jpg\" alt=\"watercress soup Watercress Bacon Soup\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/>Whether you live in an area being hit by a winter cold snap or you\u2019re lucky enough to be basking in a balmy climate, there is comfort to be found in a bowl of soup. A sip of steaming soup will warm and nourish you to your core, but there\u2019s also great comfort found in the fact that you can\u2019t screw up soup too badly. Gather ingredients in one pot, simmer, and <em>voila,<\/em> you\u2019ve got soup.<\/p>\n<p>There is however, a bit of an art to selecting just the right ingredients and we think Danielle Thalman has done just that with her Watercress Bacon Soup. Our first soup entry for the <a title=\"Primal Blueprint Cookbook Contest\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/primal-blueprint-contests\/primal-blueprint-reader-created-cookbook-contest\/\" >Primal Blueprint Cookbook Contest<\/a> strikes just the right balance of home cooked comfort food (there\u2019s bacon in it!) and intriguing, complex flavor from a green called watercress.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-9576\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Watercress is one of those unassuming, <a title=\"Smart Fuel: Dark Leafy Greens\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/dark-leafy-greens\/\" >weed-like greens<\/a> that lets others, like spinach and arugula, hog the spotlight even though it has just as much, if not more, to offer. Those of you who buy watercress regularly already know about its pronounced peppery flavor and delicate leaves. But have you realized how insanely nutritious this green is? Watercress is an abundant source of beta-carotene, vitamins A, B1 and B6, C, E and K, iodine, iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. It also contains a flavonoid called quercetin that is thought to act as a natural anti-histamine and reduce inflammation.<\/p>\n<p>All these nutrients, and its peppery, earthy flavor, make watercress a nice contrast to meaty, rich bacon. Together, with the help of just a little onion and garlic, watercress and bacon simmer into a soup loaded with flavor and comforting goodness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ingredients: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Watercress Bacon Soup Ingredients\" src=\"http:\/\/i247.photobucket.com\/albums\/gg158\/MDA2008\/MDA2009\/ingredients-13.jpg\" alt=\"ingredients 13 Watercress Bacon Soup\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>4-8 slices bacon<\/li>\n<li>One bunch of watercress (wash and separate the leaves and stems then chop the stems up fine)<\/li>\n<li>1 red onion, finely chopped (or white onion)<\/li>\n<li>3 garlic cloves, finely chopped<\/li>\n<li>4 cups meat stock<\/li>\n<li>Inner leaves of celery (to add flavor to the broth)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Optional Ingredients:<\/strong> For a richer broth, Danielle sometimes adds 1\/4-1\/2 cup heavy cream or a peeled and cubed potato (sweet or russet) to the soup. When she wants to turn the soup into an even heartier winter meal, she\u2019ll grill a NY steak while the soup is simmering and then plop half the steak into each bowl of soup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Directions: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Start by frying the bacon in a\u00a0large, deep frying pan. Then remove the bacon, chop it up and set it aside; use the bacon grease (or olive oil if desired) to saut\u00e9 the onion and garlic until browned. Then add the watercress stems, crumbled bacon, stock and celery leaves.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Watercress\" src=\"http:\/\/i247.photobucket.com\/albums\/gg158\/MDA2008\/MDA2009\/watercress_chopped.jpg\" alt=\"watercress chopped Watercress Bacon Soup\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p>(If using cream or potato, add now) Simmer for at least 30 minutes with a lid on then add the watercress leaves and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Watercress Bacon Soup\" src=\"http:\/\/i247.photobucket.com\/albums\/gg158\/MDA2008\/MDA2009\/simmering_soup.jpg\" alt=\"simmering soup Watercress Bacon Soup\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Pluck out the celery leaves. Add salt and pepper if needed, but the watercress and bacon should already provide adequate seasoning.<\/p>\n<p>Makes two big meal-sized servings or 3-4 smaller \u201clunch side dish\u201d servings.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Watercress Bacon Soup\" src=\"http:\/\/i247.photobucket.com\/albums\/gg158\/MDA2008\/MDA2009\/soup_closeup.jpg\" alt=\"soup closeup Watercress Bacon Soup\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em>Get <a title=\"Mark's Daily Apple Feeds\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/..\/feeds\/\" >Free Health Tips, Recipes and Workouts<\/a> Delivered to Your Inbox<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h4>\n<p>Related posts:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href='http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/ginger-soup-with-scallops-and-shrimp\/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Ginger Soup with Scallops and Shrimp'>Ginger Soup with Scallops and Shrimp<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href='http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/early-spring-greens-soup\/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Early Spring Greens Soup'>Early Spring Greens Soup<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href='http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/fiddlehead-ferns-with-bacon-browned-garlic-and-onion-and-white-wine-reduction\/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Fiddlehead Ferns With Bacon, Browned Garlic and Onion, and White Wine Reduction'>Fiddlehead Ferns With Bacon, Browned Garlic and Onion, and White Wine Reduction<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/MarksDailyApple\/~4\/joYTgve0zxc\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you live in an area being hit by a winter cold snap or you\u2019re lucky enough to be basking in a balmy climate, there is comfort to be found in a bowl of soup. A sip of steaming soup will warm and nourish you to your core, but there\u2019s also great comfort found in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}