Potaje de Berros ~Watercress Soup

We love the Canary Islands and have visited all of them on many occasions. The climate, terrain and the food is something we really enjoy and this is the reason we return year after year. Last year we booked through Monarch for our holiday to Tenerife. We stayed in self catering apartments as this gives us lots of flexibility and we can hire a car and drive around the island with its lovely coastline and mountain range. We enjoy stopping by at the local villages and farmers markets to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and also home made bread. The fruit and vegetables are always available in abundance and they look so natural and taste delicious.

Eating out and discovering local cuisine is also fun to do on holidays and our mission has been to find as many Canarian dishes  that we can that are suitable for vegetarians. Over the years we have discovered many dishes that we enjoy such as  Caldo de Papas y Cilantro (Potato and coriander soup), Mojo Verde (Green Mojo), Mojo Picon (spicy sauce),  Papas Arrugadas (wrinkled potatoe)s and Platanos Fritas (fried bananas).

On our recent visit, one of the restaurants we regularly visited was well known for their most amazing watercress soup known as Potaje be Berros. Unfortunately the soup on the menu was actually made with pig ribs which was not suitable for vegetarians, however after chatting to the owner he created a vegetarian version for us and it tasted amazing.

Its admirable that restaurant owners are very accommodating and more than willing to rustle up vegetarian dishes even if they are not on the menu. We enjoy chatting to the chefs and I have come away with some great recipes from my visits, especially an authentic Canarian family recipe for the Mojo Pican.

I was so impressed with the soup that I have recreated my own vegetarian version of Potaje de Berros- Water cress soup. The soup is very chunky more like a stew than soup and it tastes absolutely delicious.

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Potaje de Berros ~Watercress Soup

by Nayna Kanabar January-20-2017

Hearty  and rustic soup with beans and vegetables nad peppery watercress.





Ingredients:

• 1 Medium sweet potato diced
• 1 Corn on the cob cut into 1 inch rounds
• 4 Medium tomatoes finely chopped.
• 1 Green pepper finely chopped
• 300 g fresh watercress stalks removed and roughly torn
• 1 Red onion finely chopped
• 2 Cloves garlic finely chopped
• 250 g precooked flageolet beans (white beans)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• Few strands of saffron
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1000 ml water 

Method:

1. In a large saucepan add the olive oil and wait for it to heat up, then add the garlic and onions and saute until translucent. 2. Add the chopped tomatoes and the diced potatoes and sweet corn and add the water. Cook the corn and sweet potatoes until almost 75 percent cooked (approx 10 mins) 3. Add to the pan, the green pepper, precooked flageolet beans, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and simmer the soup for 5 more minutes until the potatoes and corn are fully cooked. 4. At the last minute stir in the water cress and just cook for 1 more minute until the leaves wilt. 5. Stir in the saffron and spoon the soup into serving bowls and serve with hot seeded bread. 

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cooking time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins   Yield: 4 servings

This post is a contribution to the Monarch Island Cookbook in collaboration with Monarch