Mexican Salad with Nopales
You may have seen these paddle-shaped cactus leaves at your local produce market and wondered what to do with them–while nopales are popular in Mexico and parts of the southwestern U.S., they’re a bit of a curiosity to those of us who live in cooler climes. Their sharp spines also lend them a rather forbidding aspect; even when they’ve been “de-spined,” you may poke yourself on a stray-but-still-sharp stub. Because of that, I prefer to buy them bottled or canned. Another factor to consider is the need to boil the nopales after you’ve cleaned and cubed them–since the cactus is a succulent plant, its flesh has a slippery, thick quality that doesn’t make for a very nice texture. This can be overcome by either boiling it for 10 minutes in salted water or purchasing it bottled or canned.
(Note: to clean nopales, trim off the edges with a sharp knife and then remove the eyes of the spines by holding the knife at a 45-degree angle and scraping it down the length of the paddle. If there are long spines present, you may wish to first remove them with tweezers–you’ll need a poke-free area for your fingers to grip. Finish by slicing off the thick bottom of the paddle.)
Nopales do, however, have an intriguing crunch, and they have a fresh tartness that compliments salads and chilis. In the example above, I combined just-boiled nopales with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, avocadoes, and a spoonful of Greek yogurt to make a slapdash Mexican salad. If I had had queso fresco, I would have included that, too! The dressing was a simple mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper, and epazote. (You could easily substitute oregano for the epazote.) ¡Qué rico!
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I love nopales – the taste is so fresh and they say it’s good for your health too. My favorite Mexican ingredient, however, is huitlacoche. Have you tried that yet? Delicious.