Lupe's Kitchen Corner: EAST MEETS WEST - MUSHROOM & CACTUS FAJITAS (FAJITAS DE CHAMPINON Y NOPAL)

EAST MEETS WEST
MUSHROOM & CACTUS FAJITAS
FAJITAS DE CHAMPINON Y NOPAL

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Fajita Marinade Ingredients:
1/4 cup Lime Juice
1/4 cup Tamari OR Soy Sauce   
1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil   
2 tablespoons of Piloncillo (Substitute Jaggery, Muscovado or Brown Sugar)   
1/2 teaspoon of Cumin
1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne
2 Cloves Of Minced Garlic


Vegetarian/Vegan Mushroom Fajitas:
6 Shitake Mushrooms
3 King Oyster Mushrooms
2 Cactus Paddles 
1 Onion

DIRECTIONS:

Put all the ingredients for the marinade together in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Clean the mushrooms. Discard the shitake stem. Cut all the mushrooms and onions into chunky slices. Not too thick.

Pour the marinade over the mushrooms and let them marinade for 30-60 min.

Clean the cactus paddles of any thorns that might still be on. Be careful and use a knife to slice them away if you see any. I usually buy them cleaned but like to double check. Be careful, cactus thorns can really sting. 

If your using a grill, then its best to grill the cactus paddles whole so you can flip them easily. If you plan to cook them on your stove top, then you'll want to cut the paddles into strips. 

Put the cactus into a bowl and coat them with salt. Leave them in the salt mixture for a good 30 min or more. Cactus paddles tend to have a sticky snotty liquid that oozes out. Salting them pulls it all out. When your ready to cook them, rinse them out and you'll find that alot of that mucous liquid will be gone. 

If cooking on a grill, make to sure to cook the mushrooms til they are a little charred on each side. I cooked this batch on my stove top today. 

I like to cook the onions and nopales first til the onions soften up. Then I put them on a platter and cook the mushrooms til they are a little charred on both sides. 

Serve with the usual fajita items which include tortillas, salsa, guacamole, crema and salad.