When I was in grad school I used to stop at this restaurant before class to get the best steak salad. It had spicy cashews, pineapple, and jicama and it.was.ah-mazing! I went twice a week for a month and spent an hour before class savoring the salad and completing the reading or assignment that was due that day (yep, I’m a huge procrastinator). I started looking forward to that hour until reality set in and I realized I was a broke grad student and had no business spending $15 on a salad twice a week. I told myself this was only a temporary situation and once I was done with school I’d be able to go back to my weekly routine. After all, I was going to grad school to become a teacher…oh wait, I’d never have the money to throw away $30 a week on salads. If I wanted this salad on the regular I’d need to make it myself. So, here we are and I guess we can all thank my career choices for this salad.
We typically eat this with chicken but it is as equally delicious with steak or tri-tip. It does take some time up front to prep the salsa ingredients but once that is done this meal comes together quickly. We try to use fresh pineapple and jicama but if we are in a time crunch we’ll go to Trader Joes and get the pre-cut pineapple spears and pre-cut jicama slices. They are a little more expensive but they do make this salsa a bit easier and faster to assemble. We love to top this with our jalapeno lime vinaigrette. This is a great salad to enjoy outside in the summer. It’s also a great salad to help you pretend it’s summer during the dead of winter.
Happy Cooking!
Chicken and Pineapple Salsa Salad
Ingredients
Grilled Chicken
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp paprika
Pineapple Salsa
- 2 cups pineapple (roughly 1/2 pineapple), cut into 1/2" pieces
- 2 cups jicama, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch" pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2" pieces
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
- 2 jalapenos, seeded, and finely chopped
- 2 TBSP lime juice (from roughly 2 limes)
- 2 TBSP avocado or olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
Toasted Cashews and Coconut
- 1/4 cup cashew pieces
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened if you can find it
- salad greens or kale for serving
- shredded cabbage for serving
Instructions
For Grilled Chicken
- Preheat a grill or cast iron pan to medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and paprika. Spray cooking oil on the grill or add 1 TBSP oil to the cast iron pan. Add the chicken to the grill or pan and cook for 7-8 minutes per side or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Let rest for 5 minutes and then slice
Pineapple Salsa
- While the chicken cooks, add all of the salsa ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine
Toasted Cashews and Coconut
- Preheat a medium nonstick or cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the cashew pieces and shredded coconut to the pan. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Cook until the coconut is browned and fragrant, about 3-5 minutes
To Assemble
- In a bowl or on a plate add the salad greens and/or kale. Top with cabbage, salsa, toasted cashews and coconuts, and chicken. Drizzle with jalapeno lime dressing
- If you plan on eating this as leftovers or using for meal prep then we recommend using kale as the salad base instead of salad greens as they stand up overtime whereas salad greens wilt under the salsa. Assemble the salad but reserve adding the dressing until right before you are about to eat
Looks too good to eat!
But it tastes too good not to eat 🙂
Loved this recipe!!! Tried with steak just because I had other chicken meals planned for the week. But such a filling and delicious recipe. A perfect meal to do when having a dinner party as it feeds a lot and you don’t need a ton of meat. AND because *presentation* is on point!!!
Awesome! Yum, steak sounds so good! Glad you liked it 🙂
Fresh, tasty and perfect recipe to show case in my newletter for the month of May. As a realtor love to feature practical stuff not all about real estate.
We are glad you are liking this recipe, it is definitely one of our favorites during summer when you can sit outside on the patio for dinner. Glad you can use it in your newsletter 🙂