Running through your weekly grocery list you probably have milk, eggs, bread, prickly pear wait, what? You mean you don’t normally use prickly pear? Native to deserts, the prickly pear thrives in hot, arid lands, like those found in New Mexico. With the plant so readily available, it can be foraged for in your own area. When foraging for prickly pear yourself, be sure to wear gloves, and make sure you identify the correct plant before picking.Never heard of this before? Get up to speed here. The cactus has both pads or nopales, the green prickly part that usually comes to mind when one thinks of a cactus, and fruits or tunas, the juicy red “pear” of the prickly pear, and both can be used in delicious, nutritious ways. Harvest the pads in the spring, and pick plump, glossy pads, free from bruises or spots. The older the plant, the tougher the skin, so looking for younger plants will generally be more succulent. To prepare the prickly pads, they must be peeled to rid them of the sharp spines that puts the prickly in their name. Cook the pads just like any veggie: grilled whole after peeling, cut into strips and boiled, diced and sauted, or roasted whole with a medley of other vegetables; however you prefer to eat your veggies. They can also be added to recipes. The fruit should be harvested in the late summer and early fall and should come off the plant with little resistance, that’s how you know it is ripe and ready. To prepare the fruit, cut off the ends and peel the skin off. It can be eaten fresh like a fruit, juiced, or tossed into an exotic fruit salad. With ease, this fruit can go from backyard weed to delicious, foraged ingredient that makes a regular appearance on your dinner table.