Nopalitos Con Huevos - Eggs and Cactus

Molly53's Note:

A recipe by Toni Turner, executive director of The University of Texas Law School Foundation in Austin, a cooking historian who specializes in the foods of the Anglo pioneers and Native Americans of the 1850s. As posted in Texas Highways.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• ½ lb bacon
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 (4 ounce) can green chilies , chopped
• 1 lb nopales (fresh cactus pads, cleaned of thorns and sliced into 1/4-inch strips)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 large tomato , chopped
• 6 eggs , beaten
• 1 cup cheddar cheese , grated
• salt

Directions:

1. Fry bacon and remove to drain.
2. Pour off most of the bacon drippings, leaving enough in the pan to sauté the onions and garlic.
3. When onions are transparent, add chilies, nopalitos, chili powder, and tomato.
4. Cook for five minutes and stir in eggs. When eggs are scrambled, top with grated cheese and bacon, and serve with tortillas, home-fried potatoes, and refried beans.

Reviews

[Muffin Goddess]

This is a frequent Sunday breakfast in my house (with adaptations,of course) LOL. I don't use the bacon (I have made it with the bacon, and it was good, but why bother if we enjoy it equally well without?). Butter Pam or vegetable oil works just as well as bacon grease when you don't care about the bacon flavor. Instead of the canned green chilies (which I don't always have on hand), I just dice two fresh jalapenos or serranos and saute them with the onions and garlic (DH likes the extra spiciness anyway). Fresh nopales are unheard of in New England, I think, so I just use the jarred kind (rinsed first, of course). I think the jarred ones add extra flavor anyway, since they're brined. I reduce the amount of cheese to half a cup, too. DH likes to have a couple chunks of queso blanco on the side, so he doesn't care if the eggs themselves are cheesy. Okay, I know it seems like a lot of alterations, but I've made this recipe as-is before, and didn't feel that the end product was different enough to post separately (and I would rate it equally high as-is). One last suggestion (not an alteration, LOL): these are really good with sliced avocados tucked into the warm corn tortillas with the eggs. Thanks for posting!