Nopalitos (Cactus Salad)
· 10 6-inch cactus pads (Opuntia engelmanni/dollarpoint prickly pear)
· 2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
· 1 small purple onion, chopped
· ½ cup of chopped cilantro
· ¼ cup of queso fresco
· 1 whole avocado halved, seeded, peeled and chopped
Salt to taste
Remove spines and eyes from cactus pads with a fillet knife or vegetable peeler. Cut off the outer edge of pad along with the base of the pad.
After removing the spines, rinse pads off and dice cacti to half inch squares.
Place diced cactus in a pot and fill with water until the cactus is completely submerged and bring to boil for 7 minutes.
**HINT: Once the cactus has been boiling for 5 minutes, throw in a cup of ice and continue to boil for 2 more minutes. When cooking cactus, the cactus will produce a natural slime. Throwing in the ice cubes after 5 minutes will help reduce the amount of slime that is produced.
After the cactus has boiled, remove from heat. Then proceed to strain and rinse of the cactus with cold water.
Place rinsed cactus into a large serving bowl and mix with other ingredients. Season to taste
By: Randall B.