It's an adventure!

As mentioned in a previous blip, we were given cactus as part of our CSA (community shared agriculture). A lovely woman named Beverly tends the farm where our weekly share of vegetables comes from and she made it clear that this week's share would be "different." Thanks to a massive heat wave and no rain here in North Texas, some of the typical veggies are being supplemented by some creative stuff - namely, cactus and yucca root. We still received the usual gorgeous corn, carrots, green beans, etc, but the cactus and yucca root helped fill out our share.

Beverly encouraged the group to adopt the mantra "It's an adventure" (and she should know about adventures - thanks to the heat, she has been forced to tend her crops at night...with snakes and critters).

So, with an adventurous attitude we fired up the grill and slapped some cactus on the grates. For this first round, we only used olive oil and salt/pepper because we wanted to experience the flavor of the plant without anything to mask it.

I made some black quinoa to go with it because I read that cooked cactus can be slimy (like okra). Served with a steak and some potatoes, it was very, very good.

If cactus is offered again we'll definitely grab it.

Thanks for the adventure, Beverly!