Pineapple Salsa Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

I sort of invented this recipe one night because I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store. I was reading through my Cooking Light 2010 Annual Recipe Cookbook and spotted a recipe for Chicken Tacos with a Jicama and Mango Slaw. I then immediately thought about how good this would be with pineapple salsa instead of the slaw. I happen to have pineapple on hand and knew that the spicy chicken and the sweet and tart pineapple salsa would be a perfect combination. In the end the mixture of the two were delicious and it was even fussy-boyfriend approved. The whole recipe is easy to pull together and you can even eat the leftover pineapple salsa with some tortilla chips. That is, if there is leftovers.

Fiesta Chicken Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Author: K

Recipe type: Entrée

A Spicy chicken with peppers and onion, topped with sweet and tart pineapple salsa, served on a warm corn tortilla.

Ingredients

For Pineapple Salsa:
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped red pepper
Handful of chopped cilantro (to your liking)
1 juiced lime
For Chicken Filling:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound of skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ teaspoon chili powder
⅓ teaspoon cumin
⅛ teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup red pepper, sliced into strips
1 onion, sliced into strips
¼ teaspoon salt
8 corn tortillas

Instructions

For Salsa: Mix all ingredients in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until tacos are ready
For Taco Filling: Heat 1 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
In a bowl combine chicken strips, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, and ground red pepper.
Add chicken mixture to pan and cook for 3 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.
Heat remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in the same skillet and add in pepper and onion strips. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add chicken back to pan and cook until chicken is done. Sprinkles with salt.
To Serve: Heat corn tortillas in a warm frying pan sprayed with cooking spray. Heat both sides until warmed.
Serve chicken/pepper mixture on warmed corn tortilla and top with pineapple salsa.

Source- Adapted from Cooking Light and Cook Yourself Thin
Have you ever made up a new recipe to use up ingredients you had on hand? What did you end up making?

Tonight my roommate and I were back in the cooking mood (the heat is finally fixed!), after grocery for the week we started to make a new recipe. She got a new cookbook for Christmas and wanted to cook from it all this week. So every night this week we will be cooking from the “Cook Yourself Thin” cookbook from the Lifetime television show “Cook Yourself Thin”. Tonight we made Chicken and Bean Burritos with Pineapple Salsa, and although it took a while, it was delicious! I cannot wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. The recipe calls for flour tortillas, but we bought low carb tortillas that were only 90 calories with 10 grams of fiber. So if you are concerned about your calorie intake I would shop around for the healthiest tortilla.

Chicken and Bean Burritos With Pineapple Salsa

Serves 4

Calories per serving, chicken and bean burritos: 436

Calories per serving, pineapple salsa: 28

For the chicken and bean burritos

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained, if frozen

1 15 1/2-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon minced fresh jalapeño (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 pound bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts

3 peppercorns

1 carrot, sliced

1 bay leaf

3 medium tomatoes (2 quartered, 1 diced)

1 white onion, quartered

6 garlic cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

4 medium flour tortillas

1/4 cup shredded low-fat cheddar

1/4 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

For the pineapple salsa

1 cup ripe pineapple, chopped

1/4 cup red onions, chopped

1/4 cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

(We started with #2 first b/c it takes about 30 minutes)

1. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add beans, cilantro, lime, jalapeño, salt and cayenne, and stir until well mixed; set aside.

2. Put the chicken, peppercorns, carrot, bay leaf and 3 of the garlic cloves in a large saucepan, and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, and then simmer over medium heat until cooked through, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly in the broth. Remove the chicken from the broth, and remove the skin and bones. Shred the chicken into small pieces, and return the meat to the broth.

3. Put the quartered tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomato mixture and cook, stirring until thickened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shredded chicken to the tomato mixture. Stir until well mixed.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Warm the tortillas, one at a time, until pliable, about 1 minute. Divide the cheese, lettuce, diced tomato, bean mixture and chicken with its sauce among the tortillas, spreading the ingredients in a line down the center. Fold in the top and bottom, and then roll in the sides. Serve immediately.

5. To make the pineapple salsa: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Set aside.

Enjoy!

-K