Nopales Salsa (*****ly Pear Cactus)

Ingredients: 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 5 med nopales cleaned, do not cook 3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped 3 jalapenos, finely chopped 1 sm white onions, finely chopped 1/4 c cilantro leaves chopped salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Bring one gallon of water to a boil in a large pot. Add baking soda and salt. Cut the nopales across the grain into 1/4-inch strips, then cut these into 1/2-inch pieces. Add the nopales to the boiling water. When they are soft and still green, after about 15 minutes (do not cook them too long or they will turn brown), drain and run cold water over them, while still in the pot, to stop the cooking process. This step (along with cooking in copper) retains the green color so important to the dish. Rinse the nopales in a strainer, then shake out as much moisture as possible. Put the nopales in a bowl and add the tomatoes, chiles, onion, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine. Serve at room temperature.

This sounds awful, but it was really good and often served with scrambled eggs.  You might want to moderate the jalapenos according to your tolerance for hot stuff.  But this was really good.