Prickly Pear Pear Smoothie

2 prickly pears, peeled and sliced (this is a helpful guide with nice pictures)
1 large Bartlett pear, quartered and seeded, then roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, trimmed and chopped
1 medium head of romaine lettuce, washed and torn or chopped into large pieces
about 1 cup of water

Add all ingredients to Blendtec, water last. Run on Whole Juice cycle twice (add ice cubes on the last cycle if you want ensure a perfectly cold drink) and serve.

One advantage to frequently perusing the Reduced for Quick Sale (RQS) Rack at Harris Teeter is that you often find things for very cheap that you might not normally buy -- in my case it's usually some interesting produce often associated with Mexican cuisine. I got a bag of prickly pears for dirt cheap and immediately thought of trying them in a smoothie (along with the extremely ripe marked down organic pears I also got from the rack).

Peeled prickly pears have a smell that reminds me of berries. They also contain numerous edible but not exactly chewable seeds which would probably be nearly impossible to remove. I found this ruby-colored green smoothie very tasty. I thought the prickly pear complemented the carrot, though the Bartlett did overpower a little and I could have added more lettuce, as it was very sweet.

P.S. The next day I made this again and added several more leaves of lettuce and more water, and it was even better.