Nopales (Cactus Paddles) Three Ways: Pickled, In Cheesy Quesadillas, & In Spicy Salsa Verde

Use one fruit or vegetable in three different ways - that's the theme of this month's Creative Cooking Crew challenge, hosted as always by the lovely Joan of Foodalogue and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks.

This is both a deliciously intriguing and a perplexingly open-ended challenge. Any fruit. Any vegetable. Any three ways. To narrow down the endless choices, I decided I'd make three things that would form a part of one dish. The trick would be to manipulate one ingredient into three components with different, yet complementary, tastes and textures.

So I chose something both versatile, and, I hope, a bit unique (at least in my neck of the woods). Nopales, or cactus paddles:

I have always loved the varied flavor profiles of Mexican cuisine, but since my visit to Mexico City, it's become one of my absolute favorite cuisines in the world, and I love trying my hand at Mexican dishes whenever I can. Nopales are a common ingredient there and easily found, and I'm lucky that my local Mexican grocery carries them - with the thorns already removed! They taste a bit like a cross between  green beans and asparagus, with a bit of a lemon-y overtone.

I decided I'd make a salsa verde, pickled nopales, and nopales quesadillas with habenero jack and queso fresco. As I made my quesadillas very cheesy they are actually more Tex Mex than authentically Mexican. But very good nonetheless!

Like okra, nopales have a bit of a slime issue. There are different ways to deal with that, and I used a different method with each of my dish's components.

For the pickled nopales, I cut one cactus paddle into strips and covered it in salt for about an hour  to draw out the slime. For the salsa verde, I roasted the paddles whole, and for the quesadillas I boiled chopped nopales and then rinsed them several times. The boiling method worked best at eradicating slime, but none of the dishes were what I would consider off-puttingly slimy.

Look Ma, no slime!

For the pickled nopales (do this step first): Salt and rinse a cactus paddle as described above. Chop and place in a heatproof glass container along with 1/2 chopped red onion and one habanero pepper that's been cut in half.  Add a pinch of salt. Heat 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons sugar and pour over the cactus and onions. Let sit at room temperature for several hours.

For the salsa verde: Over the flame of your gas stove, roast one Poblano pepper, one jalapeno, and one Serrano pepper until black. Meanwhile, in the oven at 400 F, roast 5 tomatillos, 1/2 white onion, and 2 salted cactus paddles until the tomatillos split. Peel the blackened peppers, give everything a rough chop and  and whizz it all together to a chunky texture with an immersion blender, along with a handful of cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and salt to taste. Refrigerate.

For the quesadillas, boil chopped nopales and rinse. On a corn tortilla layer refried beans, shredded habanero jack cheese and the nopales. Top with a corn tortilla and fry on a hot skillet until the cheese melts. Garnish with queso fresco, salsa verde, and pickled nopales.

And then enjoy the spicy goodness.

Want to see  the amazing creations the other Crew members have come with? Make sure to visit Lazaro's round up on August 29. But don't worry, I will remind you if you forget!