Ouch! Grilled Cactus-n-Shrimp Salad

I enjoy using the prickly pear cactus in the pasture for cooking or making jelly ..... and here  

but when I was in the store the other day, I found cactus pads already half-way cleaned. Thinking this would save time I brought a few home. :)

The pads still had a few thorns... 

So I got my trusty channellocks out of the kitchen drawer and found a nice sharp knife to clean the pads up a bit.  The channellocks are handy for holding the cactus while I scrape them with the knife. 

Those darned little thorns are painful if you get one stuck in your hand.  A strip of grey tape will pull them out most of the time but if left in your hand they will irritate the heck out of you. lol 

The cleaned washed cactus...

I had a few ears of "redneck" corn in my freezer. I call them "redneck" corn because they remind me of the friend who showed me how to freeze them this way. 

He has an upright freezer full of corn on the cob and homegrown steaks. That's all. :)

When the corn is ripe, he pick the ears and throws them straight into his freezer without doing anything else to them.  When he cooks on the grill he throws frozen steaks onto the fire and ears of frozen corn still in their husks...

Both the steaks and corn come out perfect. :)

I place the fresh picked corn into a bag before freezing so the silk won't get all over my freezer. 

When you want an ear, run the corn under water to soften the husk a bit, then peel. 

The corn kernals are plump and juicy, just like the day they were picked.  

Some of the salad fixins......

I grilled the corn and cactus first....

then added shrimp that was marinaded in olive oil, sherry and garlic....

Cactus has a bit of "slime" like okra, so rinse it before using in the salad if you want...

I like to add what ever I have on hand.  Grilled cactus, grilled corn, black beans, minced green and red onions, garlic, jalapeno, tomatoes. I like to add jicima when I have it. 

For the dressing I use 1/3 c red wine vinegar, 2/3 c oil, minced garlic, 1 TBs dijon, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste... Cayenne is a good addition too.

The grilled cactus and shrimp salad....

It was kinda tasty! :)

I know a lot of folks refer to the cactus as nopales... which is fine.

 I just call them cactus. 

When out in the pasture I never say "ouch, a nopales  thorn just poked me through my shoe" or "dang, another flat tire from running over a darned nopales "  

So when I cook em...they are still cactus to me.  :)