Hi Tru, there are different techniques to remove the mucilanginous texture. In the past I've had it in tacos where the pads were grilled and nopales salad with it pickled. I liked both but don't remember the details of the taste of just the nopales. I'm pretty sure texture in the grilled was fine.
This is the first time I've had access to my own plants to harvest so I bought a prickly pear cactus cookbook to try a bunch of recipes. I would imagine the young pads would have a better texture and flavor. Waiting for new growth to experiment. I like okra tempura so thinking nopales cut into strips and made tempura style would be tasty. I remember reading in a blog where they cut in strips, boiled it, rinse and drained, then dehydrated it to add to soups and stews.
Hoping this will be a staple vegetable for me since it grows effortlessly in our climate and is drought tolerant. It was very challenging this year growing annual vegetables with all the rabbits, gophers, and ground squirrels.
Janet