Desertexplorations.com

Have you ever wondered what you can Eat if you were stranded in the desert? Or just plain curious what you can do with different cacti used in recipes? Well, I have! See, we love information and I did the research on edible cacti! The main thing is not to get those sharp and annoying stickers in your skin! First on the list is the prickly pear, mesquite, saguaro, barrel cactus, hedgehog cacti, cholla. Not only are cacti used as edibles, but as spices, jellies and sauces! I have a recipe for prickly pear (purple fruit) also called “Tuna. So try them out and tell people about this! Collect a bunch of them 2 1/2 pounds to be exact. Use

gloves, take them and wash them good. Cut off ends, then make a slit through the skin, peel or cut off skin, then put into the blender until puréed. Strain through a sleeve. After this , in a saucepan combine 21/2 lbs prickly pear juice, 1/2 cup water , mint, 1 cinnamon stick, vanilla bean into a pan and boil, stirring in sugar or honey until dissolved. Experiment until you feel it’s a good consistency! Also I found this recipe using this prickly pear syrup in a mojito. Use 1 and a half tablespoon prickly pear syrup, 6 to 8 mint leaves, lime juice and 2 ounces of rum or whatever you like!