Cactus Fries & Salad w/ Ancho Chile Dip
Tall, crunchy and proud looking cactus fries, great dipped in a spicy ancho chili dip. The salad is fresh tasting and bursting with flavor, coupled with the awesome fiber content made this a really healthy salad.
Ingredients
- For the Cactus Fries:
- 4 cactus leaves or "paddles"
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper
- Oil for frying
- For the Ancho Chili Dip:
- 2 tsp of mayonnaise
- 1/4 tsp of ancho chili powder
- dash of paprika
- dash of hot sauce to suit your taste
- For the Cactus Salad From The Homesick Texan:
- 1 pound of cactus leaves cleaned as above
- 1 plum tomato chopped
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 medium red onion sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup Cotija cheese crumbled
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- For the cactus fries, take the thorns out of the cactus leaves and rinse underwater.
- Cut into french fries shapes and blanch in a pot of boiling water (about 4 minutes). Drain and cool.
- Fill a pan with the oil about 2 inches deep and bring to 350F. Dredge each "french fry" in the flour and then the egg and finally the panko.
- Drop gently into the hot oil and fry for about 5 minutes or until nice and golden.
- Drain on a paper towel and season with sea salt and black pepper.
- For the ancho chili dip, combine the mayo, ancho chili powder, paprika and hot sauce. Mix well and chill.
- For the salad, prepare the leaves as for the fries but cut into small 1 inch squares. Blanch for 4 minutes, rinse and cool.
- Prepare all the other ingredients and mix together in a bowl. Add the chopped squares of cactus to the bowl when cool and marinade in the fridge for about an hour. Sprinkle with some more cheese just before serving.