Grilled Pineapple Salsa

The road to the photo above was a fairly long one. What started out as a simple grilling challenge for me and some of the other Walmart moms became a challenge of not only my cooking skills but my dexterity for assembly. Let me explain. We are asked by Walmart to come up with a unique grilled dish and I immediately thought of grilled fruit paired with seafood. In this instance, my idea was to use the sweet acidity of the pineapple combined with the heat of salsa for a taste sensation on marinated and grilled salmon.

After purchasing all of the ingredients, I marinated the salmon in fresh pineapple juice (made with my Health Master blender), teriyaki sauce, ginger, and garlic.

Next I chopped up all of the veggies for the salsa including cilantro, jalepeño pepper, red onion, grape tomatoes, and red bell pepper. 

So far, so good. Since the salmon needed to marinate for at least an hour, I figured I’d go ahead and prep the grill for cooking. Before I tell you what happened next, for context you have to understand that this summer in Atlanta has been one so rainy that I was fearful the usual daily thunderstorm would arrive before I completed cooking my dish. That being said, when I went outside to the grill, imagine my surprise when I was greeted with a rusted mess that was truly unusable for grilling. If you remember, I grilled for the 4th and although my grill wasn’t pristine at the time, it was nowhere near the condition I found it in. I’ve decided to spare you the gory photos but trust me, it is a hot mess!

At that point, I was at a crossroad. I needed a grill but when I visited the outdoor garden section at Walmart the day before to purchase charcoal and a grill basket, I did not recall seeing a small grill which is all I really need. I immediately went to Walmart.com to see what my local store had in stock and found an Outdoor Grill for $17.00. With my fingers crossed that site to store wouldn’t take 4 hours (because it’d be very late for dinner and I promised my son grilled salmon) I awaited a text to indicate my grill was ready for pick-up. I was pleasantly surprised when that text came less than an hour after I placed my order!

As we drove to Walmart I saw storm clouds gathering and asked my son to keep the rain away - he sang “rain, rain, go away” because I needed to do this grilling challenge that day.  I also was hopeful that the grill would be pre-assembled to cut down on time. Well, I was given a box and there were no assembled grills in the store.

When I arrived home, I spent about 35 minutes assembling the grill, it was made fairly easy because all of the screws were clearly labeled and included a screwdriver and a mini-wrench. While my son watched a video and checked on my periodically, I got that grill together with very few mishaps.

I’d decided to use mesquite match light briquets for additional flavor and used a lighter to get the fire going. 

As the charcoal readied, I brushed the pineapple with a glaze of honey and lemon juice. When the grill was ready, I cooked the pineapple for approximately 4 minutes on each side to bring out the sweetness of the fruit. 

After cooking, I chopped it up and added it to my salsa.

I placed the marinated salmon in a grill basket from Walmart

and cooked that for 4 minutes skin side down, flipped it and cooked it for an additional minute. In my opinion, the final result was well worth the multiple trips to Walmart, the grill assembly and the threat of showers!

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients

1 pineapple sliced

1/2 cup cilantro

1/4 cup grape tomatoes sliced

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup red onion

1 jalepeño pepper

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Method:

Chop the cilantro, tomatoes, bell pepper red onion and jalepeño and place in bowl, set aside. For the jalepeño you can remove the seeds or leave a few in depending on how hot you like your salsa. Combine the honey and lemon juice, spread on the pineapple slices and place them directly on the grill for four minutes each side. Remove from heat, chop and add to vegetables, combine well. You can refrigerate or use immediately.

Grilled Salmon

6 oz salmon fillet skin on

1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon fresh pineapple juice

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 clove finely chopped garlic

Combine all spices and liquid. Place fish in a plastic bag and pour marinade over it. Place in refrigerator for at minimum 1 hour and maximum 24 hours. Remove from marinade and place fish in grill basket. Grill for 4 minutes, skin side down, flip and grill for an additional 1-2 minutes depending on thickness of fish.