Recipe Sunday – Cactus!
Nopales Salad With Lime and Cilantro
Steve PetusevskyCactus pads can be found in Latin markets as well as some supermarket produce sections. Look for bright green, shiny leaves the size of your hand. The spiny soft thorns must be rubbed off with a nylon abrasive pad before you proceed with the recipe. Careful as they can be sharp.
-2 large cactus pads (nopales), scrubbed of thorns, rinsed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
-Water
-Salt, to taste
-1 medium tomato, chopped
-1 serrano or jalapeno chili, seeded and minced
-1/4 small red onion, chopped
-1/4 cup minced cilantro
-Juice of 1 lime
-6 lettuce leaves, optionalPut diced cactus into a saucepan of cold water to cover. Add a pinch salt and bring to a boil.
Cook 4 minutes until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.
Combine cactus with remaining ingredients except lettuce and mix well. Serve on leaf lettuce or in small cocktail glasses as an appetizer. Makes 6 servings.
Since I never try out these recipes in advace of reprinting them for you, I cannot calim to know if they are delicious or not. Only you can decide that for yourself. Fortunately there is no shrimp in this recipe, so at least I could try it if I wanted.