Nopales & Plantains: A Little Prickly, A Lot Delicious

Fresh in at the Co-op, nopales and plantains are bringing bold flavor, bright color, and a little adventure to your kitchen.

NOPALES

(Prickly pear cactus pads) have a mild, tart, and slightly citrusy flavor that is often described as a cross between green beans, asparagus, and green pepper.

Clean the cactus paddles

• Using a sharp knife, carefully hold the nopales by its stem with kitchen tongs or a kitchen towel and trim about ¼ inch of it’s edges off.

• With the tip of the knife, scrape off its thorns. Then trim about ½ inch at it’s base (where it was attached to the plant).

• Rinse the nopales under cold water and pass your fingers thru the flesh to ensure no more thorns or hard spots are left behind. You don’t want to eat those!

• Slice nopales into strips or squares depending on how you’re going to prepare them.

To cook the cactus

• In a medium pot, add the cut nopales with ¼ onion, 1 garlic clove sliced in half, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and a handful of cilantro.

• Heat over medium and cook. You’ll start to see the slime come out right away, but don’t worry, this will go away soon.

• Continue to cook uncovered, stirring once in a while to cook evenly.

• Cook until tender and the slimy juice has disappeared. About 13 to 15 minutes.

• Cool and store in an airtight container or use in your planned recipe.

• USE IN: scrambled eggs, salad, tacos, add to your favorite salsa or guacamole recipe

Nopales A La Mexicana

• 4 medium tender cactus paddles – cleaned, chopped and cooked (follow directions above)

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• ¾ medium white or yellow onion chopped

• 1 garlic clove minced

• 1 large roasted anaheim pepper (or poblano pepper) - chopped in similar size to nopales.

• 1 medium tomato - chopped

• Salt and pepper to taste

• In a medium skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, add the chopped onion and saute while stirring constantly until it begins to become transparent. Add the minced garlic clove and roasted peppers, saute for 30 seconds until fragrant.

• Add the tomato and saute for 1 to 2 minutes until they soften up.

• Add the cooked nopales and combine everything.

• Season with salt & pepper to taste. Serve while warm.

PLANTAINS

You can both boil and bake both ripe (yellow, brown, black) and green plantains, though they offer different textures and flavors. Green plantains are starchy and savory, like a potato/yam (great for boiling or baking into chips), while ripe (yellow/black) plantains are sweet and soft, better suited for sweet baking or boiling as a sweet side.

Boiled Plantains

• Large pot with 6-8 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of salt.

• Bring the water to a boil.

• Wash the plantain and cut off the ends. Keep the rest of the peel on for now.

• Once the water is boiling, slice the plantain in half and toss it in.

• Boil until you notice the plantain expanding from each sliced-off side as if it’s pushing out of its skin. About 10-15 mins.

• Remove the plantain from the water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

• Once it’s cooled, remove the skin and enjoy!

• Pairs well with sliced avocado or mash them with butter and serve along any stew (meat or bean).

Baked Plantains

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

• Using 4-5 plantains, cut off the ends

• Peel the plantains by slicing through the skin from one end to the other. Make sure you’re only cutting through the skin! Pull off the skin.

• Cut the plantain in half and slice it lengthwise into quarter-inch slices.

• Place these slices flat on a parchment-lined, non-stick baking sheet.

• Sprinkle with cinnamon.

• Bake for 10 minutes. Flip and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until browned.

• Serve with your favorite dish.

• Pairs well with black beans, black bean soup, coconut rice and anything spicy like jerk chicken or spicy sausages.