BRAD LANCASTER
These recipes work best with cultivated prickly pear such as Opuntia ficus-indica. Young pad growth kicks in with the summer and late winter rains.

In the hotter months I love to eat the young pads raw in a very simple and refreshing dish Bill and Athena Steen showed me. Harvest small, young pads from this season. Slice off the small thorns (glochids), wash the pads, and then cut into strips. Salt them up, sprinkle with lime juice, and if you like (I do) splash with chile sauce. Eat ‘em up quick, as they will get a bit slimier with time.

To cook the dethorned, washed and cubed pads sauté them, watch for slime to appear, continue cooking, and when slime disappears the cooked cactus is ready to be seasoned or added to any dish you can imagine. If you don’t want to sauté them boil ‘em. Watch for foam to appear, and when the foam dies down the cactus cubes are done and ready for seasoning and mixing.