Ensalada de Nopales

Name: Ensalada de Nopales
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: Nopales; Ripe tomatoes; Onion; Fresh coriander; Lime juice; Tinned black beans; Queso fresco; Salt

Ensalada de Nopales, plated as one serving.

185 kcal a serving, against 317 for the traditional version. That is 132 kcal off, or 42%, with 10.8g of protein. Serves 4. 30 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Boiled and diced cactus paddles mixed with chopped fresh tomatoes, raw white onion and coriander. Dressed very generously with olive oil and lime juice, then buried under a thick layer of crumbled queso fresco.

What changed, and what each change costs

60g of olive oil swapped for 0g of oil and extra lime juice

Olive oil is pure fat and costs an enormous amount of calories. Removing it entirely lets the sharp, vegetal flavours of the cactus and tomato stand out on their own.

What it costs you. You lose the rich, mouth-coating quality the oil brings. The salad feels sharper, rougher and much more acidic. You end up with a brisk and bracing one. The version that's a luxurious side dish is still out there and still better.

Added 200g of tinned black beans and reduced the queso fresco from 150g to 100g

Taking out all that oil leaves a gap in the texture. Black beans step in to provide a dense, creamy bite while adding a solid hit of protein. Cutting the cheese back slightly prevents the fat from creeping back up.

What it costs you. The beans change the visual appeal. The salad goes from a bright, vibrant green and red mix to something a bit darker and muddier. It's the first compromise you'll notice when you serve it.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Nopales
Ripe tomatoes
Onion
Fresh coriander
Lime juice
Tinned black beans
Queso fresco
Salt

How it starts

Clean the nopales carefully if they still have spines attached, scraping them flat with a knife, then dice the clean paddles into 1cm squares.
Bring a large pan of heavily salted water to a rolling boil.
Drain the cooked nopales and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water for 60 seconds.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Mexican.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	317	185
Protein	10.2g	10.8g
Fat	26.6g	8g
Saturated fat	8.7g	4.5g
Carbohydrate	12g	20.1g
Protein per 100 kcal	3.2g	5.8g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Mexican prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. milk.

The method is in the book

This is a fiercely refreshing plate of food. You are sacrificing the traditional slick of rich olive oil, and the black beans definitely turn it into a heavier, earthier dish. The acid from the extra lime bites hard against the crunch of the raw onion and the salty hit of the cheese. I miss the glossy finish of the original preparation, but I don't miss the massive puddle of fat pooling at the bottom of the bowl. It works brilliantly straight out of the fridge on a hot afternoon.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Mexican, along with 56 more. Buy the paperback