Sometimes I walk through the produce aisle and buy pretty fruit. I certainly didn’t have a game plan for the pineapple, but in my cart it went. Afterall, pineapples are probably the coolest fruit out there! The weather in San Diego has been unseasonably hot, which means our local farmers are madly picking lettuces before they go to seed. So, our CSA loaded us up on just about every variety of lettuce this week. Today’s plan of attack was salad, and using that cool impulse-buy pineapple.
Why are pineapples so cool?
Sure it’s hot today and I have no air conditioner, but what better pairing is there than roasted pineapple slices and sweet potato!
You will need:
- cayenne peppers
- olive oil
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1/2 whole fresh pineapple
- 1 large romaine lettuce head
- 1/4 cup red onion
- 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
- 3/4 cup of black beans (drained and rinsed)
Preparation:
I sliced the pineapple and sweet potato into thick slabs and drizzled a little bit of olive oil and added a heavy sprinkling of cayenne pepper.
In the convection oven it went at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
Don’t be skimpy on that cayenne. Make it happen!
As the potato and pineapple are cooling, place your frozen corn on top. The corn cools down the pineapple and sweet potato. Clever, yes?
Dice the red onion and add it a long with the can of rinsed black beans to your cooling mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil – I used 1 tablespoon of citrus olive oil from Pasolivo Farms, but you can use all olive oil instead. Add 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, juice from 1/2 lime and a big pinch of salt. Mix well.
I cleaned, dried and cut my lettuce into nice sized bites and fluffed them in a bowl. I then added all of my toppings (gently) on top of the lettuce. Drizzle the dressing on top and then toss it gently a few times until everything is incorporated, but leave lots of good stuff on top
I hate it when al the good toppings sink to the bottom!
Had there been a little fresh cilantro on hand, that would have made a nice addition. I did have a little leftover baked & shredded coconut from last night’s coconut rice. It was a perfect sweet & crunchy topping as well. Who needs cheese?
This is a satisfying but refreshing salad that is perfect for a daytime luncheon or outside picnic. Enjoy!
