Berros Regionales

Berros Regionales

A traditional Mexican watercress salad from the central highlands, balancing peppery greens with toasted walnuts, smoky bacon, and a bright lemon vinaigrette. Often served as a light starter or alongside grilled meats.

Prep

15 min

Cook

15 min

Total

30 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •200 g (7 oz) fresh watercress, thick stems removed, or null
• •100 g (3½ oz) Mexican walnuts (nueces), toasted, lightly crushed, or null
• •120 g (4 oz) thick-cut bacon (tocino), diced, or null
• •60 g (2 oz) queso fresco or añejo, crumbled; substitute feta if unavailable, or null
• •1 whole avocado, ripe, sliced, or null
• •60 ml (¼ cup) fresh lime juice, plus extra wedges for serving, or null
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil, or null
• •1 tsp honey or Mexican honey (miel de abeja), or null
• •0.5 tsp (½ tsp) fine sea salt, or null
• •0.25 tsp (¼ tsp) freshly ground black pepper, or null
• •15 g (¼ cup) fresh epazote leaves, optional, torn; adds traditional herbal note, or null
• •1 whole serrano or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced, optional, or null

Steps

1. 1 Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3–4 minutes, shaking often, until fragrant and lightly browned. Let cool, then coarsely chop. Set aside.
2. 2 In a cold skillet, add the diced bacon and cook over medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the bacon is deeply crisp and browned (internal safe endpoint reached when fat is fully rendered and edges are crisp). Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels; reserve 1 tbsp of the rendered bacon fat and discard the rest.
3. 3 In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and the reserved 1 tbsp of warm bacon fat until emulsified. Taste and adjust salt or acid.
4. 4 Place the cleaned watercress in a large bowl. If using, scatter the torn epazote and sliced chile over the top. Drizzle with about two-thirds of the dressing and toss gently to coat, being careful not to bruise the leaves.
5. 5 Add the toasted walnuts, crispy bacon, and crumbled queso fresco. Toss once more very gently.
6. 6 Arrange on a platter or individual plates, tuck slices of avocado alongside, and finish with the remaining dressing and an extra squeeze of lime. Serve immediately.