La Piña en la Cocina

Embracing my Mexican heritage and sharing all the wonderful flavors, colors and foods I grew up with. Join me on this journey as I also learn new foods and cooking techniques. Dedicated to my parents Ramiro and Blanca.

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Nopalitos a La Mexicana

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What are Nopalitos a La Mexicana? When a dish is called or referred to as “a la Mexicana”, it typically means that it is prepared with green chile peppers, white onion and red tomatoes. Green, white and red. The colors of the Mexican flag.

adding cilantro to the nopales

In today’s blog post I will share with you a tasty and traditional Mexican recipe of Nopalitos a La Mexicana. I will also share just a few of the delicious food products coming out of California.

VIDEO LINK

https://animoto.com/play/Rqb3pjGqySPZm2UHOOy1uQ

The video version shows you how I cook the nopalitos with some aromatics and some salt. See the recipe notes for more details.

cleaning cactus paddles

How To Cook Fresh Nopales (Cactus). See Recipe Notes!

fresh ingredients
nopalitos in the skillet

The first product is this delicious spicy Mexican pork chorizo. The owner, Anselmo Torres, prepares it in small batches so it’s always fresh! For now, he is doing all the work himself and works hard daily trying to promote and get the word out about his product. This Moyahua, Zacatecas style chorizo is house-made, seasoned and cured to perfection. Find the link below.

Chemo’s Chorizo https://chemoschorizo.com/ Check out his products. He ships!

Sopes from El Comal Products. I simply flash fry them until crispy!

El Comal Products https://www.elcomal.com/ How fortunate I am to be able to enjoy all their tasty products! Many of you know that my Dad, Ramiro, was one of the pioneers in the tortilla machinery manufacturing business that begin in the 60’s in California. He was an expert when it came to chiseling the stones for the machinery. Built, with his hands, commercial corn tortilla machinery. He did not invent tortillas or even the machinery, but many large tortilla factories sought him out for his knowledge of the machinery. I am referring to the mass production and I am always on the hunt for a better store bought corn tortilla . https://pinaenlacocina.com/corn-tortillas-getting-back-to-your-roots/

Salsa Mocorito! https://salsamocorito.com/ I use the dried chiltepin peppers both whole and crushed in many of my recipes. A little goes a long way, but I love spicy foods! The salsa is the perfect blend to garnish any of your favorite tacos, enchiladas, nachos and soups!

How To Cook Pinto Beans! Click Here! https://pinaenlacocina.com/frijolescooking-pinto-beans/

More Nopalitos Recipes!! https://pinaenlacocina.com/queso-con-chile-y-nopalitosmexican-cheese-and-cactus-in-a-warm-salsa/

https://pinaenlacocina.com/nopalitos-en-salsa-de-chile-anchocactus-in-salsa/

https://pinaenlacocina.com/nopalitos-con-rajas-en-salsa-verde-cactus-with-roasted-green-chiles-in-tomatillo-salsa/ https://pinaenlacocina.com/nopalitos-con-chorizo-en-salsa-de-chipotle-cactus-and-mexican-chorizo/

Nopalitos a La Mexicana

In most cases, whenever a Mexican dish is simply prepared with green chile pepper, white onion and red tomato, it is referred to as "a la Mexicana". Simple dishes like these nopalitos a la Mexicana were, and still are, staple dishes that I prepare often.
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Course: Main Course, Meatless
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tbsps Avocado or olive oil
  • 1/2 cup white onion diced
  • 1 large serrano pepper minced
  • 2 cloves of garlic minced
  • 2 large roma tomato diced
  • 2 1/2 cups nopalitos diced, previously cooked, see notes
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil at medium heat.
  • After a few minutes, add the onion, garlic and serrano to the skillet. Saute the onion, garlic and chile serrano for 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
  • Mix in the tomatoes and again season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
  • Mix in the nopalitos and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste for salt. Fold in the cilantro right before serving. The cooking times are for when you have precooked nopales. Check recipe notes on how to cook fresh nopales.

Notes

COOK NOPALES- Slice 2 pounds clean nopales to desired size. Transfer to a skillet. Season with 1/2 tsp of salt. Add 1 sliced serrano pepper, 1/4 small white onion, 2 cloves of garlic and a handful of fresh cilantro. Cover skillet and heat to right below medium. After a few minutes the nopales will begin to release their liquid. Stir now and then, making sure they don’t burn. Once all the liquid has evaporated, take off the heat. It’s ok if there is a little liquid left so nopales don’t dry out. Remove the solids and use cooked nopales in your favorite recipes. To remove more of the stickiness of the nopales, you can rinse them under cool water. It’s optional.
 
For The Sopes:
Cook chorizo for 6-7 minutes, crumbling as it cooks. Flash fry the El Comal Sopes until crispy on both sides. Layer sopes with beans, nopalitos, Chemo’s Spicy Chorizo, cotija cheese, Salsa Mocorito and crush a few Chiltepin Peppers on top to finish! I was out of crema or else I would add some too, Lol! And a squeeze of fresh lime! 
Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!

Let me introduce you to some of my foodie friends. Look who I met up with while in California! Fun times in L.A.!

If you love to cook authentic and traditional Mexican recipes, then you definitely know my dear friend Mely Martinez! She is the real deal!! Look for here here! https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/
Now you must know my sweet and funny amiga Maggie from https://inmamamaggieskitchen.com/. As soon as we met online, we connected and our friendship has grown and grown! Hard working Mexican food blogger! Go and check her out!
Lulu works at Magnolia Foods where they produce all of the wonderful El Comal Products! Tortillas and totopos for days! She’s an awesome baker in her spare time!
http:// https://www.elcomal.com/
Anselmo Torres, Chemo, is hard working and passionate about his food business. I admire all of those who are out there day after day keeping those small business’s going. I believe in supporting small business. It’s important! Chemo’s Chorizo! Tell Chemo I sent you! https://chemoschorizo.com/
Here’s my friend Ana Rivera! She’s a dedicated mom, crafty and excellent cook and baker! I met Ana on Instagram a few years ago and we hit it off. She recently created her own You Tube channel where she shares her crafty ideas. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd6BxZFFfwGH8TSD3XuG_zQ

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Sonia

      Of course you can, I typically will just rinse them really well under cold water and then you can chop them smaller or leave them as is.

      Reply

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