Tierra Vegetables-purveyors of the very finest! Lee and Wayne James, a brother and sister team, operate an unusual 15-acre farm in Healdsburg, 70 miles north of San Francisco. While most of their farm is devoted to market garden vegetables and to a small vineyard, their true love lies in growing chiles. 20 varieties they sell fresh, dried or smoked. They also sell 15 varieties of fresh sweet peppers and sweet chiles. They also raise a small flock of Shetland sheep!Tierra Vegetables-purveyors of the very finest

 

 

Nopales, AKA Cactus Paddles.

Cactus (prickley pear) paddles are delicious and not that hard to prepare. Don’t be put off by the spines. Just be careful. These are full of vitamins and minerals and also help regulate blood sugar. They taste kind of like green beans, and stay sort of crunchy even after cooking. You can eat them raw if you like but we usually cook them up in one way or another. Here’s how I clean them. I put them flat on a piece of newspaper on my cutting board. I cut around the perimeter to take all those spines/ stickers off. Then, using a paring knife, I slice off each spiny sticker, very carefully. You may want to use gloves. There is a website, rivenrock.com/recipes.html, that says you can clean them with a scrub sponge. Some people use a potato peeler. You don’t need to peel the whole thing, just take off the spines and the top nodules as well.

Nopales Saute

Take the spines off the paddles. Rinse and cube. Meanwhile saute up some spring red (or other) onion and garlic and add the chopped cactus. Add some frozen, canned or fresh in season tomotoes. Cook for about 15 minutes until the cactus juice has been absorbed. It will help thicken the sauce. Add spices such as chile powders and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice with just a speck of grated cheese.

 

Nopales on The Grill
adapted from desertusa.com
Prepare the cactus pads as described in the preparation section above. Once you have removed the needles, nodules and thoroughly washed the pads, they are ready for the grill. Cook each pad for a few minutes on each side. While grilling, brush each side of the cactus pad with olive oil or a flavored oil of your choice. Pepper or garlic-flavored oil are often used on grilled Nopales.

Scrambled Nopales
from same website above
• 1 or 2 cactus pads • 8 Eggs
• 1/4 lb. of cheese (your choice) • salt & pepper to taste
Prepare the cactus pads as described in the preparation section above. Once you have removed the needles, nodules and thoroughly washed the pads, slice into bite-size pieces. Sauté the sliced pads in a small amount of butter for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl; add shredded cheese and the sautéed cactus pieces. Pour the egg mixture into a skillet and scramble. Serve warm with salt and pepper to taste