Tag Archives: nopal

Oaxaca Blue Corn Flakes: Organic, Sugar and Gluten Free

Hollie was here visiting for ten days and we went to the Pochote-Xochimilco organic market that is held every Friday and Saturday in the district just beyond Oaxaca’s historic center.

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I was captivated by the color of the organic blue corn crunchy tortillas, and the ones made from beets, a deep red, were truly spectacular.  Hollie is on a gluten-free diet, so this was just perfect to use for chips to dunk into the guacamole — salt and sugar-free, made with sesame seeds and amaranth.

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One morning, I thought, Why not break them up and use them for corn flakes? So, I did, adding sunflower seeds. One could also use toasted pumpkin seeds or nuts, too.

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I had on hand fresh fruit:  the fruit of the nopal cactus called tuna, guava, bananas, and a pear given to me by David on our trip to Capulalpam picked from his tree.

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I cut these up into diced pieces, added the fruit to the dried mix, poured natural, unflavored yogurt on top, and there was breakfast.

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Martha is visiting today and I prepared it again this morning.  Muy rico!  Try it.  Sugar free, gluten-free, organic. Adapt your own version from available ingredients wherever you live.

Mexican Flag Nopal Cactus Salad or Nopal Ceviche Recipe

Here in southern Mexico nopal cactus is part of the landscape.  It is good to eat, too.  Very nutritious, high in vitamin C, experts say it has other health benefits like reducing cholesterol, controlling diabetes, and preventing hangovers.

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Plus, it’s that stunning visual treat of Green, White and Red, symbolic of Mexico and her flag.

Since I live in the campo, nopal cactus is abundant.  A friend brings me a small package of baby-size paddles periodically and I also buy them in the village market.  I just planted some Opuntia ficus-indica next to the casita.  You stick the mature paddle about 2″ into the earth and it becomes a fence or sustenance.

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I sometimes add Julienne or diced nopal to a vegetable soup stock for flavor and thickening.  It has a consistency like okra.  The process I use below gets rid of the slime.

I call this Nopal Ceviche because the cactus is “cooked” in salt and lime juice. No heat necessary.  In fact, this way, the nopal retains its crunchiness and healthfulness.  Believe me, you will love it.  The trick is to find small nopal paddles in the U.S.  I’m lucky.  I get mine already de-spined and cleaned.

Mexican Flag Nopal Cactus Salad or Nopal Ceviche

  • 15-20 small cactus paddles, about 4″ long and 2″ wide
  • 3 large plum tomatoes
  • 4-6 young onions, small
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 T. sea salt
  • juice of one large lime
  • 1/4 c. EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  • optional:  3 T. diced cilantro and the flesh of 1 small avocado, diced

Nopal cactus paddles:  First slice the paddles lengthwise into approx. 1/2″ cuts. Then, cut crosswise into 3/8″ to 1/2″ dices.  You should have about 1-1/2 C. of diced nopal. Put into bowl.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Set aside for 20-30 minutes.

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Tomatoes, Onions, Garlic:  Wash and clean the tomatoes.  (Here in Oaxaca, I clean tomatoes, and all vegetables, by immersing them in a bowl of purified water into which I have added three sprays of biodegradable anti-bacterial disinfectant.) Dice tomatoes using a serrated knife into 3/8 to 1/2″ pieces.  Add to a second bowl. Keep the juice.  Dice onions to same size. Add to tomatoes.  Gently smash the garlic cloves with side of a chef’s knife or Chinese cleaver.  Peel skin.  Dice into 1/8″ cuts. Add to this tomato/onion mixture.  Set aside.

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Rinsing the Nopal:  Here in Oaxaca, in fact all of Mexico, we use purified bottled water.  I use this to rinse the nopal after it has “cooked” in the salt.  You won’t have to do this in the U.S.  I add water to the nopal, stir, and pour the water out through a colander.  I do this 4 times until the thick, mucous-like water begins to run clear and thin.  Shake the colander to release all the liquid.  If you wish, pat the nopal dry with a paper towel.

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Combining Ingredients:  In a large bowl, combine the rinsed nopal with the tomatoes, onions, and garlic.  Toss.  Add the fresh squeezed lime juice.  If you want it less tart, reduce the amount of juice.  Taste.  Add more salt if needed.  Add olive oil, and stir.  Now, you can add the cilantro and avocado, if you like.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Will hold for 24 hours covered in the refrigerator.

Serve with fresh tortillas or crispy tortilla chips.

Serves 6.

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Crunchy, No-Cook Nopal Cactus Salad with Fruit and Sprouts: Healthy, Fresh, Fast, Easy

My sister Barbara and I were in Puebla, Mexico recently and during our three-day stay we ate at El Mural de los Poblanos Restaurant three times.  We can’t get enough of Chef Lizette Galicia’s good food.  We each have a favorite salad there.  Barbara loves the fresh nopal cactus tossed with tomato, onion, cilantro, queso fresco, radishes and little slices of fresh serrano chiles. I love the sunflower sprout salad tossed with toasted pecans, sunflower seeds, radishes and a light olive oil and lime dressing.  Everything goes crunch.   Be patient.  There is a recipe and photos below!

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This week I bought three nopal cactus paddles at my organic market, spines and all.  I buy them in the Teotitlan del Valle market already trimmed, diced and waiting to be cooking.  Those spines pricked me in the market and the check-out clerk had to cover her hand in a plastic baggie.  Today, I put on my thick rubber dishwashing gloves to handle them.  It was much easier than I thought.  With paring knife in hand, I scraped off the spines and trimmed the edges.  Facile.

Based on the ingredients in my kitchen and Chef Lizette’s method for preparing perfectly crunchy, delicious nopal, here is my recipe I know you will find tasty.  It is a merging of these two salads we love, a blend of nopal and sunflower sprouts.

Norma’s No-Cook Nopal Cactus Salad with Fruit, Sprouts, Seeds

Ingredients (Norma’s Innovation)

  • 3 cactus paddles, cleaned and diced
  • 2 cups fresh sunflower sprouts, washed, dried
  • 1/4 c. sunflower seeds
  • 1 small romaine or bibb lettuce, washed, dried, torn into 1-2″ pieces
  • 8 strawberries (mine are organic, small, flavorful), whole
  • 1 medium mandarin orange, peeled, segmented
  • 1 mango, ripe, seeded, cut into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced
  • 1 T. coarse sea salt
  • 2 T. vinaigrette salad dress (scratch or bottled Cesaer)

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Method (attributed to Chef Lizette Galicia, El Mural de los Poblanos)

  1. Clean the cactus paddles.  Here is a link to how to do it.
  2. Put the diced cactus in a small bowl.  You should have about 3/4 to 1 cup.  Add coarse sea salt.  Stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes.
  3. Add the diced red onion to the cactus.  Stir.  Let mixture sit while you prepare the other ingredients.
  4. Wash and dry lettuce and sprouts.  Put into mixing bowl.
  5. Soak berries in water for 2 minutes with 1 T. of white vinegar to clean. Drain. Dry. De-stem.  Add to salad.
  6. Add mandarin segments to salad.
  7. Prepare mango by cutting it in half along the seed plane.  Score each half as if it was a tic-tac-toe board in 1″ cubes.  Fold the skin under and peel flesh from skin with paring knife.  Add to salad.
  8. Go back to nopal cactus and onion mixture.  Turn out into a mesh strainer.  The mix will be slimy like okra.  Run under cold water for 5 minutes or until the water is clear.  Taste for saltiness.  If too salty, continue to rinse.
  9. Drain cactus and onion well over a bowl.  Put bowl in refrigerator for 10 minutes until mix is cold.  Add to salad.
  10. Toss salad well with sunflower seeds.  Dress and serve.
  11. Serves 4.
  12. Enjoy!

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The health attributes of nopal cactus is legendary. Years ago, Andrew Weill, M.D., exclaimed that by eating nopal cactus you would get more vitamin C, reduce cholesterol and add fiber to your diet.  Health experts say it also reduces blood sugar to help keep diabetes under control and is great for weight loss.  Lore has it that it can prevent a hangover and control hypertension, too.  Let’s eat more nopal!   Just be careful not to prick yourself 🙂  

I am planning to make this again next weekend for the TMM-Day of the Dead Photography Workshop 2012 Reunion.  I’ll be writing more about that. Suffice it to say, seven women in the workshop last fall connected and wanted to get together again.  They are coming to North Carolina from all over the U.S.