Cactus is the new green bean!

That's right, cactus, the often overlooked food source. With a few friends and a couple beers, you might say cactus is the best food one could find. That would be a most likely be a lie, unless you were in the desert and no insects could be found. It really isn't bad, the most fitting description I could think of was "slimy green beans" although it had a subtle flavor that can only be described as cactus in character. The first step is of course to find a cactus, but since a friend happened to have a cactus in his backyard, that was easy. Then a leaf (it's probably called something else by a true cactus lover, but the part that looks like the top of a ping-pong paddle) must be torn off, carefully in case the thorns aren't an obvious warning. Using a knife we cut the thorns off, and then we boiled it for a few minutes. This is probably one of many ways to prepare this delightful food source. After boiling, we cut the skin off (though the skin wasn't bad, I don't believe it was worth the effort) and buttered and sliced the "leaf" adding a dash of salt to each slice. We also made up the more average fair, some steak, beans and corn. The food was delicious, the cactus was an experience. Like I said, it wasn't bad, but in the end, I had to wonder, is a slimy green bean worth all this effort?