What type of cactus?

[JessW]

I've seen cactus and cactus fruit listed as good staple veggie/fruit, but I was wondering specifically what kind? Spineless prickly pear? Any kind of spineless cactus? Is there any kind of (spineless) cactus that would be bad?

 

[Taterbug]

Prickly pear (opuntia) cactus. Pepper loves the fruits but from what I've found the pads aren't super nutritious and for me not with the effort of finding and preparing. Not all cactus or succulents are edible so I'd be cautious and research other species carefully.

 

[JessW]

Thanks for the reply! I grow prickly pears for cooking already, so I was hoping that was it ?

 

[Taterbug]

What do you cook with the cactus?

 

[JessW]

The pads you can stir fry, or put them in a salad, or roast them. Just sort of like squash (we call them nopales here). And I make jelly and syrup from the fruit.

 

[Taterbug]

Neat! Roasted sounds interesting! I like the fruit but too many little hard seeds

 

[charmander16]

Prickly pear tastes a lot like watermelon to me when its raw. The problem I have with it is that it's too watery for a staple IMO. I fed ours prickly pear pads as a staple for a week and his poop got really watery. But as an occasional addition to greens it's good.