Tarde 5: Mercado y Sopa con Nopal

Nopal = Cactus

Instead of our normal Nutrition classes in the morning, we took a field trip to the mercado (market), a term which encompasses both inside and outside vendors. Alma, the Nutrition Conversation teacher, identified various fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices for us in Spanish/English and bought some things for everyone to sample, such as the cuajinicuil. 

Cuajinicuil is a vegetable that grows on a vine. 

Inside the husk are multiple pods, each covered by sweet, edible flesh that feels just like terciopelo (velvet).  The velvety layer peels off fairly easily from a large green seed.

 Can you guess what this is?

   Estómago de rés = beef stomach

First course for lunch was a flavorful soup of garbanzos (chickpeas), tomates (tomatoes), ajo (garlic), cebolla (onion), nopal (cactus) and consommé de pollo (chicken bouillon).  Nopal is very similar in texture and flavor to green beans.

Second course: pechuga de pollo frita (fried chicken breast) topped with cebolla y chile habañero marinada (marinated onions and habenero chilis), ensalada de betabel (beets), zanahoria (carrot) y aguacate (avocado), y arroz (rice).

The marinated onions paired very well with the chicken and avocado, though they were extraordinarily spicy!