Edible Desert Plants

I learned something new the other day that will help me in my never ending quest to find natural sources of nutrition while in the outdoors.  In Arizona we are "blessed" with an abundance of plants that are always trying to stab, stick and injure us, so now is the time we finally get to strike back!  One of the most edible plants we have throughout Arizona is the prickly pear cactus. The prickly pear cactus provides us with a few different parts we can eat.  First the fruit, the pinkish, purplish and sometime white part that grows out like a flower.  All you have to do to enjoy the fruit is remove the outer layer, taking special care to remove all the spines, especially the small hair like ones.  There are many ways to use the fruit from simply eating it, to turning it into jam, jelly, sorbet, or wine.  The other part of the plant we can eat is the pad or main part of the plant.  If you are in a survival situation I would recommend cleaning off all the thorns, peeling the outer layer back and enjoying.  If you are eating them at home or in a more controlled environment you can boil them, bake them, grill them or add them to other foods such as salads, omelets or tacos.  The pad of the prickly pear can also be a good source of much needed liquid while out hiking in the heat.