Cottage Cheese with Tender Cactus Nopalitos

It could be my European heritage but I have always liked cottage cheese enlivened with little cubes of chopped gherkins served with crackers.

But when I  tried substituting the gherkins with some cubed  La Costena Tender Cactus Nopalitis recently I was won over. They are similar in texture but not quite so sharp. La Costena has preserved them in vinegar and added  a very subtle flavouring of coriander and serrano pepper.

Nopalitos are the pads of the cactus pear (also known as the prickly pear) Mexican cooks will often add them to scrambled eggs or as part of a taco filling.When you first lift these out of the jar they look like gummy snakes and are somewhat slimy so they do need to be rinsed before using.