Recipe - Cactus Salad

1 One half pound Fresh or prepared cactus
paddles or nopale; needles
removed
Three fourths cup Olive oil
1 One half teaspoon Salt
4 Italian Roma tomatoes,
cored, seeded and cut into
1/4" dice
One half small Red onion, cut into; 1/4"
dice
2 md Serrano chiles, stemmed,
seeded and; finely minced
2 bn Cilantro, leaves only,;
chopped
One half cup Finely grated Cotija or
Anejo cheese
One half cup Red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
6 Lettuce leaves
1 Avocado, peeled, seeded and;
cut or sliced up for garnish
One fourth cup Cracked black pepper
garnish,; recipe follows

Preheat grill or broiler. Place cactus paddles in a bowl and toss with 1/4
cup of the olive oil and One half teaspoon of the salt. Grill or broil the
paddles until grill marks appear on each side, or they turn dark green with
black patches, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Cover and chill 2 to 4 hours or overnight. Cut cactus into 1/2inch pieces.
In a large bowl, combine the cactus, tomatoes, onions, chiles, cilantro and
cheese with the remaining One half cup oil, the vinegar, the remaining 1
teaspoon salt and pepper. Toss well. Serve on plates lined with lettuce
leaves, and garnish with avocado slices sprinkled with cracked pepper
garnish.
Recipe By :TOO HOT TAMALES SHOW #TH6118

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #316

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 08:02:26 0500

From: Meg Antczak meginny@frontiernet.net