Prickly Pear Cactus Cooler

February 22, 2010


On the heels of my last post Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit, I’ve learned a little more about this desert fruit. Its outer skin range in color from light green to purple-red, and its flesh ranges from a light yellow-green, to deep golden, to red.

A few days ago I posted a link Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit on Raw Epicurean’s Facebook page. Between then and now, I updated the site. Unfortunately there were a few glitches and I lost that post along with comments [apologies]. I’ve re-posted Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit. On the initial posted link on Facebook, some of our reader’s share their experience, tips, suggestions, and a recipe, which I would like to share with you here:

I was surprised to learn from Agatha that prickly pear grow abundant in the Southern region of Italy! I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for this cactus fruit next time I travel to The Boot area.

Prickly pear grows in South Africa too, as Laura shared with us that she ate her fill of it as a kid growing up there.

Katie tempted my curiousity with the thought of a Prickly Pear Margarita! I know, I know that wouldn’t fall under the category of raw, but …. and Marcie had one in Sedona and raves it was the best margarita she’s ever had! [Now I must try it, just once. ;-)]

Viviana reminds us the prickly pear is also known as “tunas”.

Lori’s aunt made a wonderful jelly from it.

Pat and Sam share with us that it controls blood sugar levels. Good to know.

I wish I could visit Justina’s Tiki Farm where she grows them.

I agree with Delicia, using gloves is another option to avoid getting pricked by the pear and when handling it.

Tips on handling this prickly pear

John suggests “burning the prickers off as an the easiest way using a lighter, they burn quickly, and it doesn’t damage the fruit.” Ok, that sound fisible. Don’t try this a home, alone, if you are a minor!

Also, I’d like to share a tip from Naomi, a Raw Epicurean readers, whom suggests an ease way peel prickly cactus pear safely. Thanks for the tip!

Cut off ends a little less than a centimeter in. Then make a slice from one end to the other only going through the top layer/peel as if you were going through the skin of an orange. Now dig your fingers between the slice and peel down around the fruit. The fruit will separate pretty easily from the peel. Once you get the hang of this it’s pretty easy to avoid the clusters of globins (we call em “picas” cause it picas your hands like spicy jalapenos).

Prickly Pear Cactus Cooler

Just look at that gorgeous color. The recipe is simple to make, has an absolutely beautiful color, is subtle in taste, and refreshing. The inside of a prickly pear is scattered with black seeds. When making this drink, I peeled the pear cactus and roughly cut it into big chunks, then added the chunks, seeds included, to the blender. However, you could de-seed it first, otherwise blend and strain the juice through a strainer to catch all the seeds and seed particles.

2 red prickly pear cactus, washed and peeled
1 1/2 cups filtered water
2 tablespoons lime juice, fresh squeezed
1-2 tablespoons organic raw blue agave, or to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Pour the juice through a strainer to remove any seeds.

Serve at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Serves 2

back to top ⇑

Reading: Prickly Pear Cactus CoolerTweet This: Send Page to Twitter

-->

Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Thank you for stopping by.

8 Comments so far

  1. Raw.la - Raw Food in The News and Around The Web on February 22, 2010 Monday, 4:15 pm

    [...] Prickly Pear Cactus Cooler [...]

  2. elf 2 Fans USB Cooler Pads for Laptop/Notebook/PC, White – dinodirect : World online computer review on February 22, 2010 Monday, 4:43 pm

    [...] Prickly Pear Cactus Cooler : Raw Epicurean [...]

  3. hihorosie on February 22, 2010 Monday, 7:34 pm

    Simply gorgeous!

  4. Pure2raw twins on February 22, 2010 Monday, 9:09 pm

    So pretty!! Thanks for the recipe. I have never tried prickly pears…I am intrigued!

  5. sioux @ crunchybits.net on February 23, 2010 Tuesday, 10:58 pm

    that looks so beautiful! I love the color!

    and thanks for posting those tips for dealing with them. I’ve seen these in the store but never bought them since I knew nothing about them! I’m going to give this a whirl. And maybe try a margarita or two ;-)

  6. Earth Mother – In The Raw on February 24, 2010 Wednesday, 11:35 am

    LOL, wish I would’ve known John’s lighter tip sooner. While hosting a tour of Sedona, AZ for a group of 7 women, one of the ladies filled a bag full of prickly pear fruit she had found while out hiking in the red foothills. Sadly, I had no clue how to make use of them (or touch them!). Next trip: Prickly Pear Cactus Coolers for everyone!

  7. dietas para adelgazar rapido on February 25, 2010 Thursday, 6:03 pm

    dietas para adelgazar rapido…

    En este blog me encontre algunos tips interesantes sobre dietas, si quieres checalo…

  8. Nicole on February 27, 2010 Saturday, 9:06 am

    That sounds so yummy Ingrid!

Get The Raw Epicurean Report free monthly food news in your inbox
Email:
For Email Marketing you can trust

Receive the latest raw vegan recipes and related posts via email alerts | RSS subscription

Let's connect via Twitter

Join our fabulous community

Herb of the Month

Red Clover our featured spice for April. We'll highlight its benefits, showcase it in raw vegan recipes, and at the end of the month a reader's name will be drawn from the comments, and our sponsor

Mountain Rose Herbs. A herbs, health and harmony c

will send that person products featuring red clover. Thank you for participating!