Nopalitos Cactus Salad

Have you ever eaten cactus? Prickly pear cactus paddles, known as nopalitos, are not only edible, but they are darn right delicious! Sort of like a cross between green beans and okra, and good for you too, high in vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and with plenty of fiber.

Perfect for those of us wanting to follow paleo, vegan, gluten-free, or low carb diets. (Note that I said “wanting to follow” rather than “following”. I desire to eat more a more healthy diet than I do most days.)

Like okra, there’s a bit of a slime factor when you cook them, but that can be easily rinsed away.
The prickly pear cactus grows all over the southwestern United States and the mediterranean and the young, tender paddles are a staple in Mexican cooking.


You can either buy the young paddles whole, and then prep them by wearing thick gloves and gently scraping off the sharp spines, or you can do what most of us do which is to buy them already de-prickled and chopped. You can even buy them already canned.

Find fresh chopped nopalitos already prepped and bagged at any Mexican market.


Like green beans and okra, nopalitos love being paired with tomatoes and onions. This classic Mexican salad is sort of like a hefty pico de gallo mixed in with nopalitos.

Serve the salad as a side to steak or any Mexican dish, or delight your vegan friends by using this salad as a filling for tacos!

Nopalitos Cactus Salad Recipe

If using canned nopalitos, just drain them and mix them in with the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients. No need to cook them as they are already cooked.

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) fresh chopped nopalitos
• 1 lb cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 3 cups)
• 1 cup chopped red radishes
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion
• 3 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

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