22. Eat 5 new fruits or vegetables and learn how to prepare them

I finally got to try something I have been interested in trying for awhile, the prickly pear cactus. A couple years ago, my eye caught them and I wondered what you would do with them and how you would eat them. I have been interested in trying them, but never knew what I would do with them if I bought one and took it home. Well, the other day I stopped by a spanish grocery store and surveyed the produce section. I picked up something labeled "tunas". I had no idea what it was, but it looked like something I might want to try. When I got home, I looked up "tunas" under google and all that came up were misspellings for tuna fish. A few pages in, I found tunas under spanish foods. It was listed as a prickly pear cactus. How convenient.
I looked up how to prepare prickly pear cactus and came up with this. I followed the directions and came up with these photos.

The beginning supplies needed:

First step is to cut off the ends:


After cutting off the ends, you make a slit across the outside and then just roll off the peel. It was pretty easy to do.
Here is the fruit after removing the peel.
I cut up the fruit into four pieces to make it easier to eat. The little black flecks you see in the picture are seeds. The website said that they were edible.
This picture shows what was left when I was done eating. Yep three full slices and a majority of the fourth piece. I went into it thinking I would eat the seeds, but my mouth wouldn't let me swallow the seeds as they were all pretty hard. I would compare them to the hardness of apple seeds. Not very edible.
I have to say, I was a little disappointed with this fruit. I was expecting something better tasting. I know it is a cactus fruit, how much taste would you expect. This tasted like a cucumber. I am glad that I now know what these are and how they taste, but overall, I am pretty sure I won't be grabbing for one of these again. There are many other tastier options out there.
Two more fruits or veggies to try!