Name: Prickly Pear Lemonade
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 drink
Ingredients: 4 cactus pears (peeled); 1 lemon (juiced); 235 ml of water; 5 ice cubes (optional)

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This prickly pear lemonade is a naturally sweet 2 ingredient lemonade made with prickly pears and lemons!

PRICKLY PEARS/CACTUS PEARS

Prickly pears or cactus pears are one of my favourite fruits ever! I love exotic fruits like mangoes, guavas, dragon fruits, pineapples, papayas, coconuts and cactus pears! Cactus pears grow in the Middle East, in the US and in Mexico. I think that they can also be found in countries like Greece, Bulgaria and the Mediterranean countries of north Africa like Tunisia and Morocco.

You guys have no idea how excited I was when I saw these being sold on a cart on the side of the road in Amman. Ever since I was a kid, we used to have them every summer when they are in season, and that’s the only time of the year when you can find them (July, August and September). So I was walking down the street with my sister when we saw a guy selling peeled and ready to eat prickly pears, if you’re following me on Snapchat you probably have seen the videos as the seller showed us how to he peels the fruits and told us more about them. If you don’t follow me already, you can add me @DianaShh.

The yellow/orange cactus pears that you can see in my pictures are sweet in taste, and have loads of seeds. These are the only kind that I have ever tried, but I know that red prickly pears also do exist. Prickly pears are really good for you because they’re a great source of magnesium. In fact, a prickly pear contains more magnesium than in an orange, apple and pear combined.

HOW TO PEEL PRICKLY PEARS

Peeling these fruits can be a little bit tricky. I do it with a fork and a sharp little knife. I slice both ends off, and then slide the knife under the skin and pull it off lengthwise. The seeds in the fruits are edible, they’re crunchy and sort of fun to eat!

My favourite way to eat the fruits is cold, we usually fill a bowl with ice cubes and the fruits to serve. Very refreshing! I also love adding prickly pears to salads, porridges, smoothies and desserts.

The recipe of prickly pear lemonade that I’m sharing with you today is pretty simple but very refreshing and healthy! This a simple 2 ingredient cactus pear lemonade. I didn’t add any sweetener, as the fruits are already sweet. You have a choice to either keep the seeds, or to strain the juice and get rid of the seeds. Prickly pear seeds oil is extracted and is used to nourish the skin, moisturise it and soften it. I have never tried using the oil, but I’m going to order some and I will let you know what do I think about it.