Nopales

Hi guys! It’s been a while!

Plenty has been going on lately for me to blog about. For some reason, though, by the end of the day I end up losing the desire to blog. Instead, I end up playing Zelda and reading for the last couple hours I have after I get home. Sometimes I’ll do a bit of jogging/walking on the treadmill, but since I’ve been ill lately, that’s been somewhat rare. Now that I’m almost all better, I’ll be doing that more often

Work has been really picking up for us lately. My boss, in his infinite wisdom, had previously asked us to not work for one day a week. So, I have Mondays off! I usually use them for doing chores I didn’t do on the weekend, for catching up on reading, or for writing. Today, however, I cooked!

I don’t really have much experience cooking. I tend to botch it up quite badly when I do try a hand in the kitchen, to be honest. Lately, though, I’ve been quite infatuated with Nopales.

Nopales are essentially prickly pear cactus paddles. They’re cleaned up, washed, and usually cut up into little squares to be included in lots of dishes. In Mexico, we put them in scrambled eggs, tacos, chorizo (ground sausage), and lots of other dishes. Today I tried a hand at this recipe.

I’m a big fan of the Masa Assassin blog, and since this recipe looked simple to make, I tried it. I ended up needing help from my mum, who has loads of experience with dishes like this one. Here’s what I ended up with. (I numbered them in order of steps.)

Boiling whole prickly pear cactus paddles

Close-up of the paddles

Boneless skinless chicken breast defrosting in cold water

Sliced Oaxaca cheese

Draining the cooked cactus paddles

Sautee-ing the red onion, garlic, and EVOO

Added the chicken

Sandwiching the main ingredients

Pan-frying after being coated with beaten egg

Cooked on both sides until golden-brown

Yum ^.^

I added sautéed chicken breast (in red onion, garlic, olive oil and black pepper) to the recipe. All the oil was EV Olive Oil, by the way. I also want to try adding mushrooms and bell peppers, but since this was a trial run, I decided to keep it simple.

My sis says it tasted great, and I’m just waiting for reviews from the rest of the family :3

According to quite a few trusted sources, cactus has many health benefits. As far as taste goes, I’d say it’s an acquired taste, the way mushrooms and marmite are an acquired taste. I’ve only known people who either hate cactus with a passion, or love it with an equal passion. It’s really interesting, I think, to incorporate such a unique plant into daily cuisine. What I really like the most about cactus dishes is the ease there is behind preparing them.

All in all, today was a pleasant and productive day ^.^