Roasted Pineapple Salad

Roasting pineapple enhances the natural flavor and sweetness of the fruit.  Pineapple, a tropical fruit rich in vitamins, enzymes, antioxidants, and other helpful compounds that can help fight disease. build strong bones and aid indigestion. They are rich in bromelain that helps boost the immune system.  Despite their sweetness, pineapples are low in calories. The sweet bell pepper is also rich nutrient dense providing vitamins and antioxidants.

Serves 6-8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise and core cut away

California olive oil

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1 juicy lime, remove zest and save juice

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 red bell pepper, ¼ inch dice

½ cup fresh organic cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup shelled, chopped roasted/unsalted pistachios

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500°F

2. Line baking sheet with foil

3. Coat pineapple strips with California olive oil

4. Place on prepared baking sheet, don’t crowd

5. Season with pinch each of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

6. Roast for 10 minutes or until the pineapple starts to char

7. Remove from oven and cool

8. Dice pineapple into ¼ inch pieces

9. In a large mixing bowl, mix to combine ¼ cup California olive oil, ½ tsp ground turmeric, lime zest, lime juice, ¼ tsp kosher salt, and ½ tsp ground black pepper

10. Add diced pineapple, sliced red bell pepper and mix to coat with dressing

11. Adjust seasoning as need

12. Serve and enjoy

Make it your own

Grill the pineapple instead of roasting, step 6

Substitute ground cumin for the turmeric, step 9

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, halves, veins and seeds removed, and thinly sliced, step 10

¼ cup green onions, thinly sliced, step 10

Add additional lime juice and zest, in needed, step 11

Garnish with chopped roasted/unsalted pistachios, step 12

Adapted from Michael Symon, “Fix It with Food”, page 111