Pineapple Chicken

First thing you want to do is get the marinade done and get your chicken started.Today I'm using about 4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast and here's what you will need for the marinade:

Pineapple juice                                   2 cups
Soy sauce                                            1/4 cup
Garlic fresh, minced                           4 cloves
Ginger fresh, minced                          2 Tbs
Green onion, chopped                        4 each
Cilantro fresh, chopped                      1/2 cup
Ground black pepper fresh                 about 60 turns of pepper mill (lots)
Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Blend             1 Tbs

Mix all ingredients well, add chicken breast and mix well again, cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours minimum. May marinate over night if you like. A quick note about cilantro. Some people think that you need to remove the stems before you chop this herb. In reality the stems actually hold most of the flavor and nutrients so leave those stems and chop away.

While your chicken is marinating lets make a fresh pineapple salsa to go with it. For this you will need:

Pineapple fresh, diced                                            about 1/2 pineapple
Jalapeno fresh, seeded and diced small                 1 large
Garlic fresh, minced                                               2 cloves
Ginger fresh, minced                                              1 Tbs heaping
Roma tomatoes, diced                                            2 each
Green onions, chopped                                           2 each
Cilantro fresh, chopped                                          2 Tbs
Olive oil                                                                  2 Tbs
Lime juice                                                               2 limes

Mix all ingredients well, refrigerate until time to serve.

Ok, the chicken is in marinade and the salsa is made, it's all been setting for a few hours so lets get dinner started. I like to have some brown rice with this dish so we'll get it going first. Remember 1 part rice to 2 parts water, bring the water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes. Now that the rice is cooking it's time to start the charcoal. Usually it takes about 20 minutes for the coals to be ready. We need a nice vegetable to go along with the chicken so I will get it in a pan for steaming and have it ready. I'm using a nice frozen blend so I will start it shortly after I put the chicken on and it should get done about the same time. I have to tell you the chicken breast I like to use I get from Fareway. They are huge, usually a pound or more each and they grill up really nice. They present well also as you see in the picture you can get some nice slices from them. They usually take 20-25 minutes to cook but the wait is well worth it. Grill  the chicken for about 10 -12 minutes on the first side, remember to start the chicken with the side that had skin down on the grill so you have a good looking piece of chicken when you are done. When the chicken starts to take on some nice color and it's showing that it is cooking pretty good around the edges its time to turn it. Another 12 minutes or so after turning it the chicken should be done. It will be kind of firm and if your not sure flip it over and cut a slit in the thick part to check. Under cooked chicken is not good so be sure to avoid it. Now that the chicken is done you can put it out on a platter and put the salsa out in a bowl and let everyone have at it or if you are having guests and want to impress you can set up plates. A nice scoop of rice, I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup to shape the rice, a nice portion of a colorful vegetable, 3 nice slices of chicken, (if you cut it at a bit of an angle it makes it look bigger and a little nicer). Fan the chicken on the plate and top with a generous amount of pineapple salsa. I garnished with some of the fresh cilantro and there you go, pretty as a picture. Enjoy!!!