The first time I ever bought a real pineapple, it was for my
daughter’s second birthday. And I only
bought it because she was having a SpongeBob theme party and I needed something
to fit into the theme. (Needed? Perhaps not.
But you know, at the time I had one kid and it seemed like you should
always strive to be Martha Stewart every time you did anything. I think that’s how Pinterest got
started). All I did was ore it out and
put fruit in it. Probably canned
pineapple too. Why? Because I didn’t know what the heck to do
with a real pineapple. Did you know they
have cores, like apples (I know, I know … mind blown)? Fresh fruit that you can buy that you grew
up eating out of a can, which was probably in “heavy syrup” so that you’d even
eat it – it can be intimidating. And
then try to put it in a recipe? That isn’t
dessert? Oh boy, Jess. Back down!
You’re just talking crazy here.
No ma’am! I am not. But most recipes call for one can of
pineapple, right? Well, a nice size
pineapple will easily give you two “cans” worth of fruit. So then what?
Those suckers can be expensive!
What to do with all that fruit?
Here are two great recipes using three basic ingredients. What I love is you can cook these within a
couple days of each other because they are so different, and both are
incredibly thrifty meals that are relatively low maintenance. The pineapple will keep in the fridge for
about a week, so these two recipes work great!
First things first – if you don’t know how to cut a fresh
pineapple, I’m sure there’s a YouTube video about it. Basically, cut of all the brown spikey stuff,
and then cut the fleshy parts off the core.
Cut the pineapple into spears and put it into the fridge until ready to
use.
**Remember to look over the recipes before cooking so you are sure to have everything needed. All ingredients aren't always in the cart, because some you already have laying around in your pantry or fridge.**
Today we’ll be going from Central America to the Far East
with our recipes:
What’s in the Cart?
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 pineapple
1 red onion
Tortillas
Teriyaki sauce/marinade
Bamboo skewers
Monterey Jack Cheese
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
2 boneless chicken breasts cut into ½ inch strips
½ red onion, diced
2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese
2 cups pineapple cut up into small pieces (canned “tidbits”
would be okay too)
½ cup BBQ sauce
10-12 fajita size tortillas
Cook the chicken and red onion in a pan until the chicken is
cooked through. Remove from heat. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Place one tortilla in the pan. Spread a small amount (about ¼ cup) of the
chicken and onions on the tortilla. Add about 1/3 cup of pineapple, and about
1/3 cup of cheese. Drizzle BBQ sauce
over everything. Place another tortilla
on top and press down with a spatula.
Cook on one side until the cheese starts to melt a bit and the bottom
tortilla is brown. Flip and cook for
another minute or so. Makes 5-6
quesadillas. Serve with sour cream and
extra BBQ sauce.
Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs
2 boneless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch squares
Teriyaki marinade
2 cups pineapple cut into 1 inch pieces
½ red onion cut into 1 inch pieces
5-6 Bamboo skewers
Add the chicken pieces to the marinade in and place in the
fridge for 30 minutes. Place the bamboo
skewers into some water to soak while the chicken is marinating. This will keep them from burning on the
grill. Heat the grill (I add this
because I always forget to do it!).
After the chicken is done marinating, make an assembly line of chicken,
pineapple and red onion. Place pieces on
the skewers in a chicken, pineapple, red onion pattern. I usually get about 5 skewers out of the
ingredients. Grill them until the chicken
is done (internal temp of 165). Be sure
to rotate them often so that the Teriyaki sauce doesn’t burn. Serve with rice.
With these two recipes you can feel confident that you can
use fresh ingredients, make fun meals, and impress everyone with your ability to
use pineapple in something other than a dessert! Enjoy!
