Another cheap, delicious meal/side.
Ensalada de Nopales
About 4 nopals (despined and diced), salt, 4 tomatoes, 1/2 onion, Mexican oregano (or cilantro), 2 jalapeno or serrano chiles, 1/4C lime juice, olive oil, cotija or feta cheese, optional avocado.
If using fresh paddles of nopal, they need to be de-slimed. Dice and toss with salt. Let sit for 1hr minimum. Rinse in a colander under cold water until slime is gone. Pat dry. While the nopales is rinsing, put diced onion in a bowl with some lime juice and salt to pickle a little.
Deseed and mince peppers, dice tomatoes, chop oregano, cilantro. Toss all together in a bowl, including onion with olive oil and crumbled cotija cheese. Sliced avocado to garnish if you like.
Goes great with street style tacos or anything else you like.


Even if you had to buy every ingredient for this, it would still be under $20 from the local Bodega. With tacos, dish came out to around $7/plate.