Refreshing Cactus Salad For The Summer
A nopal salad is a very easy way to start cooking this ingredient, very new to some people. With a composition similar to greens and vegetables, the nopal deserves to be included in our daily recipes. Go ahead and enjoy this recipe!
What is the nopal?
The Opuntia is a genus of plants of the family of cacti. It has more than 300 spices, all originating from the American continent. The best known is the nopal or prickly pear.
The nopal that we use in the kitchen comes from this plant. It is the edible meat of the stems of the plant. Its fruits are also well known: prickly pears.
Nutritional parameters
Like the vast majority of fruits and vegetables, the nopal has a large percentage of water. In this case 94% of its weight is water. The rest is made up of carbohydrates, fiber, and a very small portion of protein.
Its contribution of calcium and potassium and its richness in polyphenols stand out. As highlighted in a publication in the scientific journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences , polyphenols are chemical substances that are found naturally in a large number of plants and that, above all, turn out to be good allies of our health.
Benefits of nopal for our health
Antioxidant polyphenols
We have already seen that nopales are rich in polyphenols, which stand out above all for their antioxidant power. Antioxidants help to counteract the negative effects of free radicals in our body.
Therefore, they are of great interest in the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases such as heart disease, type II diabetes, cancer or neurological problems.
Soluble and insoluble fiber
The nopal has a good percentage of fiber, both soluble and insoluble. Thanks to the insoluble fiber , intestinal absorption of cholesterol is reduced and there is also a regulatory effect on intestinal transit. Soluble fiber helps us, above all, to regulate glucose peaks , since it slows gastric emptying.
In addition, the fiber present in the cactus is fermentable for the intestinal microbiota, since it contains mucilage and pectins. This turns the nopal into a food with prebiotic effects that will help us keep our intestinal flora in good condition.
Diet supplement
The nopal is a good food for those who follow a weight control diet. It is light and provides a small amount of calories. It is digestive and thanks to its fiber it exerts a slight satiating effect.
If we prepare light recipes such as the nopal salad that we will see below, we can introduce it as one more vegetable in our diet.
Calcium of vegetable origin
100 grams of nopal provide us with approximately the same amount of calcium as half a glass of milk or a plate of cooked white beans.
Thus it becomes another vegetable source of calcium for people who follow vegan diets. Calcium intake is necessary to maintain bone mass and avoid problems such as osteoporosis or osteomalacia.
The nopal in the kitchen
Now that we know the nopal and all the benefits it can bring to our health, it is time to start cooking it. The nopal is a very common ingredient in Mexican cuisine. The plant is native to this area, where a great variety of species can be found.
Before starting to cook it, it is important to prepare it well. You will need a wooden board and a sharp knife. And we warn that it does not hurt to work with gloves, to protect ourselves from their thorns.
We put the nopal leaves on the board and cut the edges. Next, we are removing the thorns from both sides of the stalk. Now that it is clean we can start cooking.
The way to cut and cook it will depend on the recipe we have chosen. To cook our nopal salad it is best to cut it into thin strips.
Nopal salad to enjoy this summer
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 4 or 5 pieces of clean nopal
- 4 pear tomatoes
- half a spring onion
- 2 medium avocados
- 100-125 grams of feta cheese
- 2 lemons
- virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- some fresh leaves of parsley, coriander or mint.
Preparation of the nopal salad:
To prepare the salad it will be necessary to follow the following steps.
- To start, we cut the nopal into thin strips. We put a large pot of water to boil.
- Next, we cook the nopal until it is tender. Strain and reserve to cool.
- Later, we wash and dice the pear tomatoes. Likewise, we wash and cut the spring onion into small cubes. If we find its flavor very strong, we can leave it soaking in water and vinegar for an hour before preparing the dish.
- Then, we peel the avocado and remove the bone. We cut it and sprinkle it with the juice of one of the lemons. This way we avoid turning black while we finish preparing the salad.
- We cut the cheese.
- Next, we add all the ingredients in a salad bowl.
- Season with the olive oil and the juice of the second lemon. Season to taste and, finally, decorate with the fresh leaves.
Nopales also combine very well with other ingredients such as grated carrots, radishes, peppers, mangoes, lamb’s lettuce, etc. TO yes, you can prepare endless nopal salads, combining with our favorite ingredients. Do you want to surprise your guests? Serve it with corn tortillas.
Nutritional information of nopal salad
Salads are very suitable dishes to eat in summer, when we tend to be less hungry. They are light and fresh and hardly require previous cooking.
Avocado and olive oil provide the dish with the healthy fats that our body needs. And it is full of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants that will help us prevent diseases, inflammations and, in turn, take care of our skin in summer.
We can accompany this recipe with a portion of grilled fish or chicken and we will have a complete lunch. At night instead, it can be a rich and light dinner, accompanied by yogurt or fruit for dessert.
