Tip of the Week: Try adding cactus to your diet
Edible cactus is also known as nopales (no-PAH-les), nopalitos or cactus pads. It can be found at Mexican grocery stores, specialty produce markets and farmers markets.
Edible cactus is characterized by fleshy oval leaves (typically called pads or paddles) from the nopal (prickly pear) cactus.
With a soft but crunchy texture that also becomes a bit sticky (not unlike okra) when cooked, edible cactus tastes similar to a slightly tart green bean, asparagus, or green pepper.
Cactus pads contain beta carotene, iron, some B vitamins, and are good sources of both vitamin C and calcium.
-- www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov
Easy recipe: Best Coleslaw Ever
Ingredients
1/4 head napa cabbage, shredded
1/4 head red cabbage, shredded
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground celery seed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
Salt
Directions
Toss cabbage with a few big handfuls of kosher salt. Place in a colander in a bowl and let sit at room temperature 2 hours.
Drain cabbage. Rinse with clean water and spin in your salad spinner until relatively dry.
Combine vinegar and spices. Microwave on high until mixture comes to a boil.
Fold mayonnaise and cabbage into spice mixture. Chill until cold.
-- Wikibooks
Did You Know?
Nearly one out of every 25 restaurant-associated food-borne illness outbreaks between 1998 and 2008 can be traced to salsa or guacamole.
Works Well: Peppers in adobo sauce
The label reads “sauce,” but there’s more. San Marcos Chilpotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce includes whole smoked jalapeño chilies in a lightly seasoned tomato broth good for flavoring meats and as a taco sauce.
It’s a perfect flavoring for salsa and other Mexican dishes, but beware, it’s warm to Mexican palates, hot to others’.
The product is available in Mexican or ethnic sections of groceries. Select cans of whole peppers in adobo or sauce only.
-- The Repository
Food Quiz
North American cantaloupes, netted muskmelons or rockmelons are a popular breakfast or dessert food, but to which bacteria are they susceptible?
A. Streptococcus
B. Versinia enterocolitica
C. Salmonella
D. Clostridium llamas
(www.funtrivia.com)
Answer is at bottom of column
Wise to the Word: Egg foo yong
Forget trying to get egg foo yong in China. It’s an all-American dish presented in Chinese restaurants here.
Foo yong is an egg pancake filled with chopped meats and vegetables and topped with a meat gravy. Seafood, bean sprouts and scallions are common.
