Channeling Abuelita

Mexican food is my favorite. I can eat it every meal of the day, every day of the week. It's simple, extremely flavorful, versatile, and most of all, delicious!

I learned so much about cooking and preparing Mexican food from my husband's grandma. In Spanish, grandma is called Abuelita. She didn't speak English and I didn't speak Spanish, but we quickly grew to love each other as if I was actually born into the family. Grandma passed away several years ago but her recipes have stayed with me. Since she raised my sweet husband, the surest way to his heart is to prepare him foods the way she did. The greatest compliment I can receive from him is that something tastes the way she made it. :)

One of Danny's favorites is her green chile, or salsa. I have so many different versions of salsa but this is always the best. I don't use the molcajete (lava rock mortar and pestle) like she did, but I give it a couple pulses in my Nutribullet and it comes out great.

Dry roasting the chiles, onions, and garlic on a hot cast iron skillet brings out the sugars, giving the salsa a rich, roast, almost sweet flavor.

To make approximately 8 ounces of this wild green salsa, you will need 4 jalapeños, a slice of onion, appx 1/2-1 inch thick, a large clove of garlic, a little water and a dash of salt.

Heat up a cast iron skillet and throw the ingredients on. No need for oil. You might want to put the garlic on the outskirts of the pan where it's less hot. You do NOT want to burn the garlic! The peppers will sizzle and pop and your kitchen will fill up with the tantalizing aroma of the peppers, onions, and garlic as they brown. Actually, it's OK if they blacken a bit. This is preferred! Don't be worried if they look burnt. Turn the chiles and garlic over and flip the onions every so often to cook evenly. Once they look cooked - there will be lots of dark spots and the green parts will be tender and a different shade of green - remove from heat. Give the garlic a little smash to remove the skin and throw it in a blender jar. Remove stems from the peppers and throw them in, too, along with the onions. Your veggies should look like the ones in the pic. Add a couple tablespoons of water and a dash of salt then pulse the salsa a few times. More for smooth, less for chunky. I like this particular salsa smoother.

Be careful when you remove the lid to the blender. The steam will carry the aroma straight to your face and may cause you to choke!  This is pretty potent stuff. A little goes a long way.

Abuelita made the finest, most scrumptious flour tortillas in the world. When she made them, the whole block would smell delicious! Her family would line up and snatch the steaming hot tortillas as soon as they came off the comal (cast iron griddle).

Nowadays, I have been eating gluten free as well as plant based. This means no flour tortillas for me! I've dabbled with making corn tortillas off and on over the years but never quite got the hang of it. Last week, I decided to go for it and try again. They came out so well! I totally have it mastered now. Mastered enough to start making large amounts and selling them! Yesterday I made 22 dozen to sell to my other health conscious foodie friends. The house smelled so good yesterday! I made some extra for us and prepared a feast for this sweet family of mine.

One of my friends who bought some tortillas told me that she was making some nopales, which is cactus. I've tried nopal salad at a couple of restaurants before but never ventured to make them myself. When she told me she was going to make them for her hubby, I decided to get a few paddles and make some too. I researched and found several recipes, and as usual, I took ideas from here and there and made my own version. I ate mine in a taco with some freshly cooked pinto beans and that wicked salsa. My taste buds were dancing!!

 

I was amazed at how simple this recipe was. I don't know why I never ventured out and made this before. To make it even easier, many grocery stores carry prepared cactus, either the cleaned paddles or bags of cleaned and cut cactus. I got a package of 6 cleaned paddles. (As I am typing this, I was reminded that Danny's grandma loved tacos made with nopales cooked into scrambled eggs.)

 

You will need:

6 cleaned cactus paddles, cut into strips or bite sized pieces. I like mine in strips.

1/2 small white onion

1 tomato

1/2-1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

handful cilantro, chopped

splash of olive oil (omit of oil free)

juice of a lime

salt

 

In a saucepan, add your cut up nopales and cover with water. Add about a half teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer till tender, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. I filled the pan with cold water, added the nopales, swished them around and drained. I did this twice.

 

 

Add your cooked and cooled nopales to a bowl and add all the other ingredients. Give the salad a good stir and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover and refrigerate till ready to eat. This tastes really good when it has a chance to chill for an hour or so, so you can make this earlier in the day if you'd like to.

 

I hope you give this a try. My life was forever enriched by being exposed to such wonderful foods and traditions, and I hope that you give it a shot and be blessed as well. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things! You never know what you'll end up loving. Enjoy!