Mexican Cactus Salad

A study found that eating cactus can reduce body fat, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Incorporating cactus fruits into your diet can help reduce the risk of diseases like stroke, coronary heart disease, and peripheral vascular diseases.

What do cactus leaves taste like?

A mild 'green' taste like asparagus or okra with a little bit of sourness that is unique to nopal. The texture of cactus is going to depend on how it's prepared. It can be crunchy, gummy, soft, or meaty.

Are jarred cactus “nopales” good for you?

Yes. They are a nutritious addition to a balanced diet and may help decrease blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and lower cholesterol.

Make it

Mexican Cactus Salad

Ingredients:

4 cactus pads or get the cactus cooked in a jar

1 full white onion

fresh cilantro

1 white onion

1/2 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1 jalapeno pepper

2 limes

2 tomatoes

olive oil

2 cloves garlic

Queso fresco, as much or as little as you like

1 avocado

Instructions:

The first thing we have to do is to remove the spines from the cactus, with a sharp knife scrape on both sides until we get all the spines. To clean the edges I am using a vegetable peeler as it is a lot easier than using the knife.

Once all the spines are out make sure to rinse in the cold water. We are going to cut them into long strips. Place them in a pot with cold water. We are seasoning the cactus with half a white onion, a bunch of cilantro, two cloves of garlic, and salt to taste. Turn the fire to medium-high heat and we're going to cook for about 15 to 17 minutes.

Now place the cactus into a large bowl and let it cool off.

For the vinaigrette we are using two full limes, squeeze them into a small bowl add 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, salt and pepper to taste I added about half a teaspoon of salt, 1/4 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Give that a mix, and this simple yet fantastic vinaigrette is going to flavor our cactus salad.

Keep it in the fridge until we're ready to serve. We're using about 1 cup of fresh cilantro get rid of the stems and thinly chop. Half the white onion even either cut a julienne style or you can dice it up, either way, it's fine, two tomatoes which we're dicing up, one jalapeno pepper with seeds, and all. We want it to be a little spicy, if you don't want the seeds you may not put the seeds in. Slice the jalapeno up into rings mainly for presentation, but you can dice it up. Now sprinkle a little bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Toss it all in. Now we're adding in a good amount of queso fresco. Make sure you crumble it up, and the last ingredient is one full avocado. We're going to dice up the avocado and put it in last.

Give the salad one last toast before serving Garnishing with radish just for the pop of color and also because it tastes good too.

Enjoy, buen provecho!