2 teaspoons plus 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 to 4 tsp. minced canned chipotle chile, divided
1 medium firm-ripe avocado, diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
3 1/2 cups (10 oz.) shredded jack cheese
12 tortillas, about 5 in. wide, either a corn-wheat blend
2 cups shredded iceburg lettuce
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 500° with rack set in upper
third. Meanwhile, cut nopales into 1/2- by 2-in.
strips. In a frying pan, sauté nopales over high
heat with 2 tsp. oil until pan is mostly dry, 5
minutes. Reduce heat; cook until barely tender, 3
minutes more. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk lemon juice, 1 tbsp. oil, 1/4
tsp. salt, and half of chipotle. Gently stir in
avocado; set aside.
3. In another bowl, toss remaining chipotle with
half of onions and the cheese; set aside 3/4 cup.
Toss nopales with remaining cheese mixture in
bowl. Lightly brush tortillas on both sides with
remaining 1 tbsp. oil; sprinkle on one side with
remaining 1/2 tsp. salt.
4. Set out 4 tortillas on a rimmed baking sheet.
Sprinkle with half of nopales mixture. Repeat
layers. Set remaining tortillas on top and
sprinkle with reserved 3/4 cup cheese mixture.
5. Bake stacks until golden and crisp at edges, 8
to 10 minutes. Set on plates. Toss avocado mixture
with lettuce and remaining onions, then mound on
stacks.
Nopales Basics-
BUY. Some supermarkets and Latino markets sell
cactus with the spines, and others sell it de-
stickered and ready to use--whole or cut up. When
buying whole pads, look for ones that are smooth,
crisp, and small to medium size.
PREP. To remove spines from pads, put on dish
gloves. Scrape a knife almost flat down the length
of both sides of pads to shave off spines and
barbed, fuzzy dots. Pare rims with a vegetable
peeler. Trim bases; rinse pads.
COOK. Once nopales hit the heat, they release a
sticky juice (like okra), but it cooks off.
Find corn-wheat tortillas such as La Tortilla
Factory Hand Made Style at many regular grocery
stores and at latortillafactory.com.
