Prickly Eats

We just returned from a glorious week in Cabo, Mexico.  We filled our days with sun, sand, fresh fruits and good food.  My parents, who had been there several weeks before our arrival, found a local taco spot, La Taquiza, with tasty tacos al pastor. A spit with marinated pork topped with a pineapple slowly rotated past a flame that caramelized the meat.  When an order was placed, the head honcho would slice thin slices of the meat off the spit and a chunk of the pineapple.  That was served on a hot corn tortilla with onions and cilantro.  There was a variety of salsas and toppings you could add but I enjoyed eating them as they were.  The icing on the cake was that we stumble upon their 2 for 1 night and paid pennies for our feast.     

We enjoyed several meals in town but also made use of the kitchen in our rental house.  One of my favorite things to do in other countries is to attempt cooking with local ingredients that I would not get the chance to at home.  The supermarkets were quite familiar with similar item to ours at home, one standout item was nopales, which was cactus.  My mother had mentioned them before my arrival and used them to make a stew.  At the grocery store there was a mountain of nopales being freshly trimmed by a man awkwardly set up in the produce section.  Since mom had made a stew I decide to go the other route I had found online and barbecue them for a salad.  My brief internet research showed that nopales are a good source of fibre and several vitamins and minerals.  After being barbequed the nopales were softer and had a slight bitter taste which I countered with a sweet dressing.  A recipe from the kitch was used for this dish.

BBQ Nopales Salad

6-7 Nopales, trimmed for spines

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 ripe avocado

1 can corn (if corn on the cob is available, bbq 1-2 cobs and move kernels)

1 cup shredded lettuce

4-5 tbsp cilantro, chopped

¼ cup red onion finely sliced

1 cup queso fresco (young Mexican cheese) crumbled

Juice of two small limes

3 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp sugar

Start by heating the bbq so it good and hot.  This will help char the nopales. 

Cut each noplaes into ½ inch strips stopping a good inch from the bottom of the nopale so that all strips are still attached.  Coat in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place on the hot grill and cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side.  Remove from heat and allow to cool and cut into bite size pieces.   

In a large bowl combine avocado, corn, lettuce, cilantro, onion and queso fresco and nopales. 

  

In a separate small separate bowl whisk together olive oil, lime juice sugar and salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle over salad and toss to combine and serve. Yum!