The scent of chiles toasting hung low like a sweet, spicy cloud swirling around the kitchen. I worked with one or two dried chiles at a time for the most control, flipping, then flattening them with a ...

Nopales, also known as cactus pads or paddles, have long been a part of my California culinary life. I've had periodic bursts of enthusiasm over their slightly lemony flavor and firm-to-the-bite flesh ...

Walk around almost any neighborhood in San Diego County, and you’re bound to find cactus growing in several yards. When I was younger, my grandmother had some growing in her backyard. When the mood ...

If your heritage is Mexican, you already know about nopales – the pads of opuntia ficus-indica, the prickly pear cactus. This species also produces the spiny, fruit-like reddish-purplish-green “pears” ...

Cactuses aren’t just part of the scenery in South Texas. For centuries, the fruit and paddles from the prickly pear cactus have fueled the people who live here, and they’re still easy to find on the ...

Prickly desert cactus sounds like the last thing you’d want to eat. But -- surprise! -- once the spines are off, cactus is juicy and tender, great in anything from salads and soups to main courses and ...

Have you ever noticed a stack of fresh cactus paddles at your local market, but were unsure how to use them — or at least how to keep from getting stuck? The paddles of the prickly pear cactus are ...

I grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, with a backyard filled with more than 200 nopales, or cactus plants. But as a kid, I wasn't a fan. My mother loved nopales—she even ate them raw and used them in ...

The history of Cinco de Mayo is a David-and-Goliath story — it commemorates the triumph of an ingenious Mexican army over a formidable enemy, France, in the Battle of Pueblo on May 5, 1862. Four days ...

Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen, written by chef Gonzalo Guzmán and journalist Stacy Adimando, caused a bit of brouhaha this past spring during cookbook awards season. It snagged the James Beard Award in ...