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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Prickly Pear Juice

Yes, that's right. Juice from a prickly pear. The great thing about being celiac (yes, I DID say there is a plus to being celiac) is that you start thinking outside of the box when it comes to things to eat. I love visiting the Asian store or the Latin American markets. I love to see all the different fruits and vegetables there are to try and today's post is inspired by some tasty new fruit I recently found. Now my tastebuds are not a virgin to the fruit of the opunitia cactus. Growing up my mom was always so good to find new fun things that I could eat. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would be as brave in my culinary adventures. I remember her making me shark, many different types of fruit and veggies, swordfish, ect....I will say, I have never made juice out of the prickly pear, but I have heard of people doing it and figured that since they are SO full of liquid, why not?

So come with me as I take you on a little journey of making some yummy nummy juice from a cactus :)

Start out by cutting off the ends then peeling and quartering the prickly pears (if the peel is not removed, the juice will be slimy and sorry....no one likes slimy juice). You will want a total of 6 cups. Place the peeled chopped fruit in a large saucepan. Pour 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil on medium/high heat. Lower heat and simmer.

Now, be sure to clean up your cutting board...you don't want it getting confused with a murder scene hehehehe.


Stir frequently while the liquid simmers for roughly 6-8 minutes. This would be a GREAT time to sweep the kitchen, mop, clean up, you know...that domestic stuff. Not plop your keester on the couch and watch old Ghost Adventures episodes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once liquid has cooled Pour through a cheese cloth and squeeze excess liquid from the pulp. When you have a nice big pitcher full of prickly pear juice, stir in the following ingredients:

juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup sugar

Pour over ice, sit out on your back deck, listen to the birdies chirp, and sip your tasty and unique juice :)




I just had to add a picture of the sweet little bouquet of flowers my sweet little munchkin gave me from the picked flowers from the neighbors yard tee hee. It was too cute not to share :)


1 comment:

  1. Very nice - don't know if I can get those around here - if I ever see them i will grab them and give it a try!

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