Hello and welcome to this thing we’re doing where we help you figure out what you’re gonna put in your mouth this week. Some of these are recipes we’ve tried, some of these are recipes we’re looking forward to trying, all of them are fucking delicious. Tell us what you want to put in your piehole or suggest your own recipes, and we’ll talk about which things we made, which things we loved, and which things have changed us irreversibly as people. Last week, we whipped up some hot grits.
I’m not sure if I had just never seen a bunch of cactus paddles in a grocery store before I moved to Los Angeles or if I had just never noticed, but now that I’m here and this is my life I need to learn how to cook these motherfuckers, because I’m just totally and completely intrigued by their prickly exteriors and absolutely delicious spirits.
If you need some help prepping these babies, click here. If you need some inspiration for how to put them in your mouth, scroll down.
1. Cactus Salad with Shrimp
2. Nopale Soup
3. Cactus Salsa
4. Nopales con Chile y Queso
5. Cactus with Chicken in a Red California Chili Sauce
6. Cactus Casserole with Rice, Cheese, and Ancho Chiles
7. Cactus Blossom
8. Cactus Paddles with Pork Ribs and Red Chile
9. Grilled Nopales (Cactus) Huaraches
10. Jalapeño and Cactus Tamales
11. Nopales and Fried Tofu in Red Chipotle Sauce
12. Chile Con Queso With Nopalitos (Fresh Cactus and Mexican Cheese in a Warm Salsa)
13. Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Nopales Salad
14. Stuffed Nopales with Black Beans, Cheese, and Roasted Red Pepper
15. Cactus Fries with Avocado Dipping Sauce
16. Cactus Tacos
17. Chipotle Cashew Chicken Tostadas with Cactus Guacamole
18. Huevos con Nopales y Cilantro
19. Nopales and Tomatillo Stew
20. Stuffed Nopales in Batter
21. Nopales and Cotija Salad with Spicy Cilantro Vinaigrette
22. Chipotle Chili with Venison and Cactus
DANG I didn’t know you could leave the outer skin on, that would’ve saved me so much time the last few times I made them, I skinned the whole stupid thing. they’re good, sort of funny in that they’re not really like anything else but remind me of water chestnuts or chamoy for having really consistent texture.
Do you think they would let me import any of these into the Europe? Or am I just going to have break into the botanical garden some night for a snack…
You could try Italian green grocers. They occasionally have them here in Australia for use in different Italian recipes.
Here they’re called Prickly Pear and are not supposed to be grown without a license as they’re classified as a noxious weed.
Things may be different in Europe with EU rules though.
Wow – these look delicious! The last time I had cactus was years ago, and I didn’t know what to do with it (the same goes for grits, actually). Thanks for inspiring me to try new things.
I woke up yesterday morning with a burning passion to try new things. So far today, I’ve booked a totally impulse trip to Puerto Rico with my girlfriend for the next month, finally took advantage of my Spanish grocery store after moving to NYC in August, and now I have you to thank because I totally have cactus fries baking in my oven. So many snaps to you and this list!
#7 has zero cactus in the recipe, folks. It’s a ‘bloomin onion’. I was excited to eat deep fried cactus but it’s not actually a cactus recipe. I feel so misled!
has zero cactus in the recipe, folks. It’s a ‘bloomin onion’. I was excited to eat deep fried cactus but it’s not actually a cactus recipe. I feel so misled!
I woke up yesterday morning with a burning passion to try new things. So far today, I’ve booked a totally impulse trip to Puerto Rico with my girlfriend for the next month, finally took advantage of my Spanish grocery store after moving to NYC in August, and now I have you to thank because I totally have cactus fries baking in my oven. So many snaps to you and this list!
Wow – these look delicious! The last time I had cactus was years ago, and I didn’t know what to do with it (the same goes for grits, actually). Thanks for inspiring me to try new things.