Didja ever try Prickly Pear Cactus as a Veg? (crape, tomatoes, weeds)

[SCGranny]

When we moved here, we found that cactus is one of the major weeds. The snow kills it back in the winter, but in the spring it pops up everywhere. I was online on another forum this AM, and one of my friends on there was giving a recipe for cactus 'pads'. Cleaning them is a bear, apparently, but people actually eat them - high fiber content and good for cholesterol and BGL maintenance... Who knew?

Does anyone eat their cactus? I'm thinking about giving it a try this year!

[southernnaturelover]

I have eaten the fruit from mine, but never the pads. The fruit tastes kinda like a bland strawberry.

[texan55]

there are species of nopales without thorns, that's the kind people usually eat, unless of course you're out on the ranch.

a lot of people like it, personally i dont.

cook it with eggs, or ground beef, or just tomatoes.

google nopal recipes.


there's different recipes for tunas (prickly pears) as well. from my experience, the ones found in the u.s. are generally sour/bitter and the ones from mexico are reallllly sweet.

[the one]

yes people eat them.

some people are a bit more meticulous in cleaning the thorns. an old man neighbor of mine would sit for hours taking each thorn off with a knife. but i have seen other people just scrape the pad with the knife. thats a bit scary.

i have had these. my old neighbors wife would cook them around lent season mostly. very tasty. a bit bitter. they can be had in a nopal salad. after cleaning them and chopping them up, you steam them with oregano and garlic for an hour or so. then you make your salad. the salad has chopped tomatoes, cliantro, cheese.

they can also be had with eggs and chorizo (my favorite). or they can be had with red chile.

i think they are an acquired taste. but many people eat them.

get some recipes.

[Gunluvver2]

I have eaten jelly made from prickly pear "apples". When I was a kid I would pick them for one of the neighbor ladies and in exchange she game me half the jelly. I liked it almost as much as Wild Plum jelly but it didn't come close to Choke Cherry jelly.

GL2