"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard
The other day I shared a delicious mango salsa over chicken. Today I have a slightly different version with pineapple.
The moral of this story is that you can throw together tropical fruit, hot peppers and onions in just about any combination and have a delicious topping for grilled chicken.
For this version I used a cored pineapple, mangoes, jalapeno peppers, red onion, mint, parsley and lime.
I chopped half the pineapple.
Chopped the mangoes, onions and peppers.
And combined. Don't mind the focus.
Then I chopped the parsley and mint together. This happens to be pineapple mint that grows like a weed in my garden, but any mint is fine. Cilantro would also be good if you swing that way but I don't.
Combine the fruit, vegetables and herbs and squeeze some fresh lime juice over. Let this sit while you grill the chicken.
Any seasoning would work nicely on the chicken but I was particularly happy with what I came up with for this.
I mixed some juice from the pineapple with spicy English mustard. I sprinkled the chicken with salt and pepper before grilling, then brushed them with the hot mustard mixture while on the grill.
The pineapple juice caramelized and made a delicious glaze. It was a great match for the mango salsa and I'll definitely try this again!
These are boneless chicken thighs but this would be just as good with chicken breasts or even pork chops or tenderloin.
Top the chicken with the pineapple mango salsa and serve with rice or potatoes or salad or whatever you like. Simple and delicious!
In the summer, and even in the winter a lot of the time, our default meal is grilled meat with starch and veggies. It is so simple, minimizes dishes to wash, and is relatively healthy and satisfying. My husband has perfected grilling chicken (and most other meats I present him with), so I never have to worry about dried out chicken on the grill. Ours is always juicy and delicious.
Normally, just grilled chicken with barbecue sauce or a spice rub is good enough, but for something a little more special, a nice mango salsa will spice up your chicken and make it a meal suitable for guests that's still easy as pie.
I have two different versions of mango salsa, so I'll start with one and share the other later in the week.
This mango salsa starts with mangoes, hot peppers, red onion and lime.
I love
Ataulfo mangoes. They always seem ripe and juicy, and I like the texture more than standard mangoes. But I had one of each this time so that's what I used. The mangoes were a little over ripe but still worked great in this salsa.
Dice the red onion.
Then dice the hot peppers.
I used a Thai chili and a Hungarian yellow pepper. You can also use jalapeno or any hot pepper you like.
Slice the mangoes on either side of the pit.
The Ataulfo mango is buttery orange and smooth while the standard mango is yellow and a bit stringy. Then score the flesh into cubes. Don't cut all the way through the skin.
Work the knife between the flesh and skin to slice these little cubes from the mango skin.
If you're meticulous, chop the mango cubes to a uniform size, or just leave them in assorted sizes if you're lazy like me.
Mix the ingredients together and squeeze fresh lime juice over all.
Serve over grilled chicken with some steamed broccoli and rice. The fresh, spicy salsa adds a lot of flavour to a simple meal.
