Nothing makes me think of good weather, and a better drink, quite like Pineapple. Most households always have apples, bananas, and berries on hand, but pineapple is hard to pass up this time of year! Pineapple is a great tropical fruit to add to your yogurt bowl, to eat as is, and to blend up for a great cocktail!
- Pineapples are loaded with nutrients. One cup of pineapple contains 88% of your Daily Value of Vitamin C, 109% of your DV of Manganese, and 20% of your DV of Copper, all with just 83 calories
- Vitamin C is essential for immune health, iron absorption, growth, and development while manganese helps your metabolism
- Pineapples are loaded with disease fighting antioxidants. Many of the antioxidants in pineapples are bound antioxidants, meaning that they provide longer effects
- You may notice that pineapple is often served with meat, especially in countries like Brazil. This is because pineapples aid in digestion.
- Pineapple is a great food to help suppress inflammation
Recipes:
Sticky Pineapple Chicken (justataste.com)
- 1/2 cup Pineapple Juice
- 1/3 cup low sodium Soy Sauce
- 1/3 cup low sodium Chicken Stock
- 1/3 cup Hoisin Sauce
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh Garlic
- 2 teaspoons Cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 8 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 cup diced Pineapple
- 1/2 cup roasted, salted Cashews (optional)
- Rice, for serving
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, chicken stock, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, garlic and cornstarch. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the mixture has reduced to about 1 cup and is the consistency of thick syrup. Set the sauce aside.
- Add the olive oil to a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and season it with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring, until it is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Drain off any liquids then add the sauce to the pan and stir until combined. Add the pineapple and cashews and cook, stirring, for an additional 1 minute.
- Serve the chicken atop a bed of rice.
Pineapple Salsa (thegunnysack.com)
- Whole Pineapple, (to use as the bowl)
- 1 cup diced Pineapple
- 1 cup diced Bell Peppers, (any combination of red, orange, yellow or green peppers)
- 1 cup diced Roma Tomatoes
- 1/3 cup chopped Cilantro
- 1/4 cup minced Red Onion
- 4 tbsp Lime Juice, (about 2 limes or use bottled lime juice)
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- Optional: 1 tbsp diced Jalapenos
- To make the pineapple bowl, cut about 1/3 of the pineapple off, leaving the stem attached to the larger piece of the pineapple. Make a cut around the outer edge of the pineapple fruit and make cuts across the middle too. Use a metal spoon to loosen and scoop out the pineapple chunks. Pour the extra juice out of the pineapple bowl so that it is empty.
- Dice enough of the pineapple chunks to make one cup of diced pineapple to be used for the salsa and save the rest for another use.
- In a small bowl, mix together diced pineapple, diced tomatoes, diced peppers, minced onions, chopped cilantro, lime juice, salt, and pepper.
- Transfer the salsa to the pineapple bowl for serving.
- Store in the fridge.
Pineapple Cooler (goodlifeeats.com)
- 1 cup Pineapple Juice
- 2 cups Limeade
- 1/2 cup Club Soda
For Limeade:
- 1 cup Sugar or Agave
- 1 cup of Water
- 1 cup fresh Lime Juice
- Prepare the limeade.
- Juice the limes, set aside.
- Combine the sugar with 1 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and let the sugar dissolve. Let cool.
- Combine the lime juice with the sugar water in a large pitcher, then stir in cold water 1 cup at a time until you reach your desired flavor.
- In a large pitcher, combine the pineapple juice, limeade, and club soda.
- Transfer the pitcher of the pineapple cooler to the refrigerator and chill until cold.
- After chilled, pour in tall glasses over ice.
