Carnitas Topping...Cactus Salad (Ensalada de Nopales)
Nov. 9, 2009 7:01 am
Updated: Nov. 9, 2009 8:07 am
I remember the first time my husband took me to this little mexican store and ordered Carnitas. I wasn't really sure what to expect becasue I had never really eaten to much mexican food, but as he raved about how wonderful these things were I figured i'd give them a try. Just before we left with are Carnitas, he also ordered "Nopales", I had never heard of nopales. So I asked him what they were, and to my suprise he said cactus!! CACTUS!! I had never heard of such a thing, now growing up on a farm I may have eaten several things others havent like: Goose, duck, deer, bear, grouse, just about any animal my father could hunt or anything my mother could grow, but cactus was never on our menu. So he told me just try it, I was very hesistant at first about this, I was afraid they may poke me. But when I looked at the container we were handed, they were not pokey at all they looked almost like green beans, there was also several other ingredients mixed in there too. So when we arrived home I prepared out plates, and topped them with the nopales, to my suprise this was one of the best things I had ever tasted!! They were not pricky, or gross, they were wonderful and added great flavor to the carnitas, so the next time you would like to try something different on your carnitas (they are also great with chicken and butter rice) here is my version of nopales:
Ingredients:
1 large jar bottled Nopales (can be found in the mexican section)
1 medium white onion~ diced into small peices
4 roma tomatoes~ diced into small peices
1/2 bunch of cilantro~ sliced into small peices~ you may use dried cilantro about 1-1/4tablespoons
1/2 tspn Mexican Oregano
Juice of 2 Limes
Optional Ingredients:
1 Jalapeno diced (not seeded)
1/2 cup Queso Fresco Crumbled
Directions:
First drain and rinse the nopales in colander. Then set them a side in a bowl. Add the chopped onion, tomato, cilantro (or dried), oregano, into bowl with nopales, mix throughly. Also if you choose any of the optional ingredients only add the jalapeno at this step, not the cheese! Take the juice of 2 limes and pour over mixture, mix again thoroughly. Then if desired top with crumbled queso fresco cheese. You can either serve immediatly or refridgerate for later use.
These are great served with carnitas or chicken and rice. I hope you all enjoy this.
Cactus Salad (Ensalada de Nopales)
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