Inspiration and Cacti

Let’s keep the momentum going! This isn’t a Simple Real post, but I’ve been feeling so motivated to create and inspire, and really turn this blog into something that can make an impact on my community that I’m updating twice this week! I really want this blog to be on fire and keep it consistent, so last weekend, I decided to get serious and treat it like a job: I sat down and created a schedule for myself based on some goals that I want to achieve each week.

One of the goals I set was to write for at least 30 minutes every day. I thought it would be something realistic and doable, even on days where I’m gone from home all day. Having a writing goal in the back of my head all day gets me thinking about things to write about all day. It’s becoming easier and easier every day to write more and even go over my 30 minute time slot. I’m learning that inspiration and motivation doesn’t necessarily have to be something that I wait for to come around after seeing something beautiful (although that’s a huge source of my inspiration) or because of some new success. I recall a quote from artist Chuck Close I saw floating around Facebook one day:

"The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case."

That’s some creative truth right there.

So besides all of these goings-on, the inspiration I created today came from the bag of nopales (prickly pear cactus pads) I bought at the farmer’s market last week. The first time I tried eating cactus was at a local taco shop here in Phoenix called La Santisima. It’s in their vegan taco and oh my gato it’s delicious. Seriously, if you’re in Glendale or Phoenix, take the time to try it sometime! They have an incredible salsa bar, too.

Cactus pads are tangy and a similar texture to a pepper when cooked. They go great with other vegetables like onions, peppers, potatoes (the base of today’s recipe), and mushrooms. They can also be pickled or used raw for salsa. Just be sure to cut or burn off the dots of tiny spines called glochids that freckle the pads before cooking or eating! It would totally ruin the amazing-ness of these breakfast tacos if you were to get spines in your tongue eating them! The combination of southwest  vegetables and eggs with tortillas is a tasty twist on chilaquiles to make for a (soon-to-be) classic breakfast or brunch.

Cactus Breakfast Tacos

2 small nopales pads

½ bell pepper, diced

¼ onion, chopped

1 medium-sized potato

2 eggs, or 2/3 cup crumbled, extra-firm tofu

2 tbsp oil

1 clove garlic

1/8 tsp Paprika

1/8 tsp Chile powder

1/8 tsp Cumin

Sprinkle of allspice

Chili flakes to preference

Salt to taste

Prep the pads by shaking them around in a bowl of water and splash of vinegar for a few seconds. This will not only clean the pads, but remove some of the spines. Drain and rinse one more time, pat dry with a towel, and grill over a very hot flame til browned and blistering. The fire from grilling will burn off the spines. If you don’t have a grill, carefully chop off the spines before cutting into cubes and sauteeing with the rest of the vegetables.

In a pan, add the oil, spices, potatoes, and onions and cook until the onions are transparent and the potatoes start to become soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bell peppers, and diced cactus and cook until just heated through. Make a well with the vegetables in the pan, and add the eggs or tofu to the space created. Sautee everything together until the tofu is incorporated and hot, or the eggs are set. You can add cheese at this step if you want; fold it in just before putting everything on a plate. Serve with steamed tortillas and salsa or avocado.

In Arizona, fresh nopales are pretty easy to find – check the farmer’s markets or specialty “international” grocery stores. If you can’t find them fresh, they are also available canned, usually in the Mexican foods aisles pretty much anywhere. You can also harvest your own if you happen to have a plant growing in your own yard or have a generous friend or neighbor who will let you use some of theirs. J As scary as this vegetable might be, don’t be afraid to try something new!