If you're enjoying a cactus pad salad, are you eating leaves or are you eating stems? Just looking at a pad, it's hard to know. I'm talking about the fleshy oval pads of Optunia, the prickly pear cactus, also known as the Indian fig for its rosy oblong fruits.
Native to North, South and Central America, the prickly pear cactus grows perfectly well in the Atlanta area, although I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the pads for sale at a neighborhood farmers market. Michael Hendricks of Indian Ridge Farm in Clarksville occasionally brings the fruit to market, and I hope to write about those pretty pink “pears” later in the season.
To answer the question posed earlier, the pads are flattened stems. When they’re offered as a vegetable the whole pads are called nopales and when diced, they’re nopalitos.
Local gardeners know they can find a variety of Opuntia labeled "thornless" which means it doesn't have the inch-long white spines that decorate the "thorny" variety. Those who deal with the native species will find themselves facing not only the easy-to-avoid spines, but also tiny little stickers called glochids that penetrate the skin at the slightest touch. Those glochids are almost impossible to remove.
Maybe that’s why nopales don’t make their way to most of our dinner tables. They just seem so threatening. But at the Buford Highway Farmers Market, nopales are a staple of the produce department, available in three different forms: pads with spines and all, peeled pads and small bags of cubed pads.
Dan Santiago, one of the market’s produce buyers, explained they keep all three products in stock all year around. Primarily a product of Mexico, he finds his traditional Mexican customers are the biggest consumers and they buy all three forms.
“People seem to buy the form of nopales that they’re used to. I’ve eaten the cubed ones in scrambled eggs and added to tacos. They’re really convenient,” said Santiago.
His tips for selecting nopales? “You want them to be almost like green leaf lettuce, nice and crisp. Whether peeled or with thorns, avoid any with discoloration,” he said. Wrapped lightly in plastic, they’ll keep in your refrigerator for about a week before becoming limp.
My first exposure to nopales for dinner was many years ago while producing a program for HGTV. A couple in Tennessee sautéed nopales strips and served them for dinner. They looked, and tasted, a lot like green beans.
Nopales are very succulent and filled with a clear sap like that of the aloe plant, and there’s a little tang to their flavor.
If you decide to try nopales, you’ll find many traditional southwestern and Mexican dishes that call for raw or lightly boiled nopales served in salads, fried like eggplant or cooked in a stew with pork, chilies, tomatoes, coriander, garlic and onions.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos:
Next weekend, cooking demos begin for the season.
9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 7. Chef Ron Eyester, Rosebud. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
For sale
Vegetables: arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli, carrots, celery, chard, collards, dandelion, escarole, frisée, green garlic, green onions, herbs, kale, lettuce, onions, oyster mushrooms, pea tendrils, radishes, spinach, sweet potatoes, turnips
From local reports
Papago Cactus Salad
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
Serves: 6
The Papago tribe of native Americans originally lived in southern Arizona and northern Mexico, prime growing territory for the Optunia cactus.
3 5- to 7-inch cactus pads with thorns removed
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground New Mexican red chili
Salad greens, if desired
Rinse the cactus pads under cold running water and examine carefully to be sure all thorns have been removed. Trim off the edges with scissors and peel using a knife or vegetable peeler. Rinse again. Cut pads into 1/4-inch wide strips.
In a medium pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add strips, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until strips are tender. Rinse and drain.
In a large bowl, combine oil, juice, honey and chili. Add cactus strips and marinate at least 30 minutes. Serve on greens if desired.
Adapted from Spirit of the Harvest by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs (Abrams, $40).
Per serving: 190 calories (percent of calories from fat, 84), trace protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 18 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium.
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