Cress to impress: the peppery, unsung hero ingredient | Kitchen aide
Growing cress with my daughter is a fun activity, but she’s intolerant to eggs so can’t have the classic sandwich I grew up with.What else can we make with cress? Sophie, via emailThis is also a pressing matter for Rosie Birkett, author of the A Lot on her Plate Substack, because her daughter recently returned home from nursery with a yoghurt tub containing cress: “It might be tiny, but cress is mighty – peppery punchy, and full of character, almost like a mini rocket leaf.” And if eggs are off the menu, Birkett’s first port of call would be to harness the young seedlings’ ability to accessorise: “Do your usual mashed avocado with a little lemon and olive oil, spread that over bread or toast, then top with a scattering of cress.It will add brilliant bite, freshness and pepperiness.”The same goes for bruschetta, or toasts with hummus, olive oil and gentle spices such as cumin, says Anna Jones, author of Easy Wins.
She’s no stranger to growing cress, either: “I did it with my own kids, and it’s a really good lesson in seeing and feeling where food comes from,” She also recommends using the stuff where you might watercress, rocket, salad leaves or fresh, summery herbs (think chives),“I would love a cream cheese sandwich with a bit of salt, a bit of cucumber and lots of cress,” she says,“On a hot day, that would feel quite fun and afternoon tea-ish,” In a similar vein, Birkett might stir cress through cream cheese or ricotta for a “super-simple spread” to spoon on to sandwiches or jacket potatoes, or for spreading on crackers.
Otherwise, simply stir cress into hummus or, if there’s yoghurt in the fridge, another slam-dunk dip would be “thick strained yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon, maybe some grated garlic and finely chopped cress”, which would be perfect for scooping up with cucumber sticks or pitta chips,Cress is also a good gateway to greens, says Georgia Levy, author of The Lunch Box Substack: “It’s a very good way to get children familiar with seeing flecks of green in their food,” she says,“Try stirring some through a bowl of macaroni cheese or their favourite pasta dish, and then, in future, that can be replaced by spinach or herbs,” Well, that’s the hope, anyway,If, however, your children are already au fait with herbs, Jones would be inclined to throw her cress into a salad: “I often make a herb salad with basil, mint, a bit of parsley and cress.
” But be sure to dress it with something slightly sweet, she adds: “A bit of honey, say, or maybe maple syrup.”Finally, mix cress into spuds, Birkett says: “Scatter homegrown cress on a buttery potato or sweet potato mash to add a lovely freshness and a touch of grown-up flavour that little palates might just surprise you by loving.” In theory at least, children should be more open to trying new foods if they’ve had a hand in growing them, Birkett says: “That sprinkle of cress will feel like a proud moment for them, as well as a sweet garnish.”Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
Trump fortune balloons by billions after family firm’s crypto token starts trading
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Parents could get alerts if children show acute distress while using ChatGPT
Parents could be alerted if their teenagers show acute distress while talking with ChatGPT, amid child safety concerns as more young people turn to AI chatbots for support and advice.The alerts are part of new protections for children using ChatGPT to be rolled out in the next month by OpenAI, which was last week sued by the family of a boy who took his own life after allegedly receiving “months of encouragement” from the system.Other new safeguards will include parents being able to link their accounts to those of their teenagers and controlling how the AI model responds to their child with “age-appropriate model behaviour rules”. But internet safety campaigners said the steps did not go far enough and AI chatbots should not be on the market before they are deemed safe for young people.Adam Raine, 16, from California, killed himself in April after discussing a method of suicide with ChatGPT
AI industry pours millions into politics as lawsuits and feuds mount
Hello, and welcome to TechScape.A little over two years ago, OpenAI’s founder Sam Altman stood in front of lawmakers at a congressional hearing and asked them for stronger regulations on artificial intelligence. The technology was “risky” and “could cause significant harm to the world”, Altman said, calling for the creation of a new regulatory agency to address AI safety.Altman and the AI industry are promoting a very different message today. The AI they once framed as an existential threat to humanity is now key to maintaining American prosperity and hegemony
Meet Bus Aunty, the nurse turning London’s doubledeckers into a TikTok sensation
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The good and bad of machine learning | Letters
Imogen West-Knights is absolutely right about us losing our brain power to the artificial intelligence bots (ChatGPT has its uses, but I still hate it – and I’ll tell you why). I too believe creative imagination is a muscle, which needs its exercise. She is also right that it can revolutionise scientific endeavour. My field of weather forecasting will soon be revolutionised by machine learning – a type of AI – where we recognise enough past weather patterns so that we can predict what weather will be coming. But writing best-man speeches, leaving speeches for work colleagues, letters to a dear friend? Do we really want to dissolve into brain-lazy folk who use AI to be the understudy to our own emotions?If I say “I love you” to someone, would they like to hear it from me or a bot? There is also another concern: AI output has no audit trail, no clues to its source
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