This is not a sope.  This is a nopale salad that Chelsea whipped up off the top of her head.  It is AMAZING.  Chelsea doesn’t write recipes.  I am the note taker and the annoying person interrupting genius  “Wait – what did you just do?  Hold on!  How much of that did you put in there?”  You may thank me for my perseverance and note taking skill after I post the recipe for this salad and for the salsa we made.

I have to test out the two recipes before posting them to be sure of proportions.  I just wanted to give you a peek at our sope adventure.  I’ve never made them before.  We used a recipe from the Culinary Institute of America’s Vegetarian Cookbook.  They’re very good fresh but the only fat in them is the thin film of oil used on the pan to cook them with.  I love the idea of a little masa harina plate to pile delicious food onto.

I didn’t love the sopes as much as I thought I would.  It’s something I want to work on more.  Chelsea made sopes once using leftover tamale dough and said it was wonderful.  I think having fat in the masa harina may make a difference.

The tomatillo and avocado salsa is so good it’s hard to keep myself from eating it with a spoon.  What I love about it is that it has such a bright and rich flavor to it but is really low in calories.  The first time Chelsea gave me some to try I used it as a dressing on salad and I loved it.

I’m wondering how well this salsa might freeze.  Tomatillos are still in season but will be over soon so I’ll get this recipe posted soon so you can try it out.

While eating this food I did not wish I had cheese or sour cream with it.  While that would be delicious too – the nopale salad was so tangy and refreshing I didn’t wish it was sprinkled with feta.  We made a black bean and fresh corn salad to fill the sopes with and dressed it with the tomatillo salsa and the richness of the salsa was perfect and didn’t make me wish there wasn’t something more to it.   So this was a totally successful day in the learning to cook excellent food without using dairy.

What cooking adventures have you been having lately?