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If you like green beans, or okra ,then you most likely will like Nopales, a.k.a cacti! You might see the pads in the store and wonder, what do I do with those???!!!!! First, Nopales is more commonly known as Prickly pear cacti and commonly used in a lot of Authentic Mexican resteraunt a, used in tacos, eggs and also used in salads. It has a wide variation. The Nopales , cacti has many great health benefits! Cacti is a anti-inflammatory, a high anti-oxident the filled with vitamins!It reduces cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

The cacti is also used for glaucoma, fatigue, ulcers,diabetes and liver conditions. So if your in a healthy lifestyle, you may want to add cacti to it! Just make sure you use tongs to grab the pears with and use a blow torch to burn off the tiny needles off!

So, with that said, here are a few recipes, you may want to try!!!! Let’s start with a drink!

Prickly pear chia Fresca! Now with this, you will have to pick 2 red prickly pear fruits using thick gloves or the long tongs! You will have to peel it open and reveal the inside. Get your blender ready!

4 cups water, 2 TVs lime juice, fresh or squeezed. 1 Tbsp Raw honey, 2 red prickly pears peeled. Now blend it really good and add 2tbspn chia seeds, chill and then after that, add lime wedges! Delicious!!!!Also, you can add your favorite fruits as well! You can also add cacti to your smoothies as well, experiment and have fun! No limits!

For a cold day in Fall or winter, a great cacti chili!

This recipe requires a slow cooker, and is called Slow-cooker cacti chili

You will need 2 lbs. ground beef or turkey meat, whichever suits you. 1 large onion, diced 2 cans black beans, 2 cans yellow corn, 1 jar Nopales, 1 8 oz can of tomato paste, 3 Tbspn chili powder, 2Tbsp white sugar, 1 chipotle pepper-chopped, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 Tspn ground cumin. Cool meat, drain excess fat and add all ingredients into Slow cooler for 4 hours on medium. You can add jalapeños if you love heat, even add cheese!

The next recipe is a cacti salad! Yay, a healthy and delicious cacti and shrimp salad! We all love to make our own versions of salad, so even with this recipe, you can add what you want to this!

In Spanish this is called Nopalitos Con Camarone (shrimp and cacti)

You can buy the cacti pads at any grocery or Carniceria store, or just buy the jar of napolitos. 3 oz jar, 3 large tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups small fresh shrimp, 1/4 cups chopped cilantro, 1/4 cup feta or real Mexican cheese and add 1/4 cup fresh lime juice. Remember, this cacti is slippery like okra, so rinse it very well, Cut up tomatoes into 1/4 diced. In a large bowl add the rinsed cacti, tomatoes, onion, shrimp, add cilantro and if you want add a cucumber! Serve on plate, crumble the cheese on top!!!!

You can also use a papaya or mango, cut out the pulp of the fruit, cut up some cacti and put back into the shell and add avocado into it to have for a snack! So, you see, cacti is good for us and great to eat in many many recipes, hope you try and share!

Hope you have enjoyed this article and hope you like and even try these cacti recipes! Share and like my Facebook page to follow me on great educational articles. Thank you so much! Vanessa