Tasty Cactus

Until recently I hadn't looked at these and thought, "Mmmm, tasty!" Growing up in Oklahoma, they were a nuisance that found their way into crops and yards and were a pain to permanently remove, but during my years in southern California, I saw them frequently in grocery stores. A friend I worked with in downtown LA said she loved her grandmother's napolitos. From the affectionate way she described her, I could almost see her standing over the stove cooking them in her kitchen. After that each time I walked past the prickly pear cactus I had previously thought of as a nuisance in a grocery store, I imagined her grandmother cooking.

 

 

A few days ago, I told my sweetheart, "People eat these, you know," thinking it might be time for me to take the plunge and try my hand at cooking cactus.

 

"Really," he said. "How? What do they make with them?"

 

"Cactus jelly," was all I could come up with. (My ignorance and my sweet tooth were showing.) I 've seen cactus jelly many times, but on the spot I could not describe the dish my friend's grandmother made. And really, I should be better educated about cactus, because if our two-year drought continues much longer, it might be easier to grow cactus as a cash crop than cotton.

 

So I began thinking more about cooking prickly pear, also known as nopales, paddle cactus, or Opuntia.  Now I'm sixteen different kinds of curious and in search of a fabulous cactus recipe.

 

So far, I've come across the ones below, and am thinking prickly pear will be showing up on the dinner or breakfast table soon.

 

Cactus Salsa from The Hungry Texan - Yum!

 

Cactus Corn Muffins from Taste of Home - I've never gone wrong with a Taste of Home recipe.

 

Mexican Green Bean Salad from Simply Recipes - Looks tasty!

 

Scrambled Eggs and Napolitos from Spice Lines - Yes, please!