Lunch Box 634: Chicken & Cactus Curry
Last time I went to the farmer's market I picked up some cactus. That was actually the second time I'd tried to buy it, but the first time I found out the hard way that the pads hadn't been thoroughly de-needled. Them things have all sorts of hair-fine needles, and when I got home I had to get out some scotch tape to pull the last of them out of my poor fingers. But this time the pads were very well "shaved" - it looked like they'd used a vegetable peeler the size of a paint roller - so, judging them safe, I bought a few, determined to find out what cactus tastes like.
My answer: it's kinda like bell pepper. Not hot but - well it just has that flavor. But it's a succulent, so it has a different texture. And, as I found out when I steamed some of it, it generates slime like okra does. Blah, I am not a fan of slimy food. But I remember a coworker telling me about how his mother used to thicken soup with okra, so I thought that maybe it would do well in curry. You know, use the slime to thicken the sauce and use the sauce to mitigate the taste a bit. The result is the above chicken & cactus curry, which was quite good. Not good enough to make me want to buy cactus again, but it was a worthwhile experiment.
Then I have steamed broccoli and a blood orange. If I could find some blood orange seeds I'd try to plant a tree.
(Website post, with links to recipes.)