Nopales and Street Art

So I’ve been experimenting with Mexican cuisine a bit.  It’s been fun, despite the fact that the burners on our stove don’t have a low setting, and the functionality of our oven is questionable.  My real objective is incorporating vegetables into our diet, since they are hard to come by.  And no, raw onions just don’t count in my book as a serving of vegetables.

Here’s a Nopale salad recipe, adapted from a salad our host mom, Carmen, made for us when we first arrived.  Nopales are a vegetable made from young spiny prickly pear cactus pads.

Nopales Salad

Ingredients:

A cup or two of nopales, cut up

Two limes

One tomato

One avocado

Splashes of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt

Cilantro and a bit of chopped raw onion to your liking

Cut it all up, throw some lime, vinegar, olive oil and salt to taste, and you’re good to go.  Note, nopales are not for the week of heart.  They are gooey.  This is also super good cooked (and less gooey!), with some peppers chopped up too.  You saute the nopales and peppers with garlic and onion, add the sauce, and throw the tomatoes in at the end.  Save the cilantro and avocado for after. Delicous and delectable.