Pick a peck of prickly pears
Yesterday , I took a day off. I did nothing more taxing than sitting on Flagler Beach reading a book with the chilly Atlantic ticklingy toes and sitting on the seawall in St. Augustine and watching the boats skim under the Bridge of Lions.
Far from my kitchen, I didn't even cook.
Within short walking distance of my chair on the beach at lunchtime was an old fashioned ice cream shop (delicious but not so nutritious) and a bar which professed to have the best fish tacos in town (yuck).
Heading back to my spot, I noticed some prickly pear cactus (tuñas) growing on the side of the road. I speared a few with my handy-dandy knife and headed for the water. Cold water will take off most of the spines and you can peel of the thick skin for a tasty snack.
You're probably not going to be foraging for a snack on roadsides for a sweet snack, so I'll give you some tips for eating the fruit at home.
- Put the fruit in a container of cold water. Doing this washes some spines away, but not all of them. (Just be careful.)
- Pick up the end of the prickly pear with a double folded towel so the fruit's skin doesn't touch your skin.
- Slice off the thicker skin at both ends of the prickly pear (the bottom and the top). Generally, you want to take off the skin without getting at the seed-filled center.
- Cut the fruit lengthwise along the centerline just through the skin. Using that slit, use the knife to lever the skin and peel it off of the rest of the pear.
- Cut the inside of the fruit into slices, or stick it onto a fork or skewer and serve.
