Up until recently, I’ve never been very eager to buy fresh pineapple. Not because I don’t like it, but because it’s sort of a pain to deal with. (Very similar to my feelings about mangoes, until OXO created the splitter for that.)
They’ve come to the rescue again with their new and incredibly effective Pineapple Slicer. And since testing it out, I’ve gone searching for reasons to use more of this tropical yellow fruit. Paul’s so happy.
Yesterday, I just cored one up in minutes and we sat around the table eating the rings with a fork. But I had a few rings left over, which was perfect for these loaded quesadillas. They were sweet, with a slight kick, and delish.
Word of advice: do not grill them when it’s 113 degrees outside, like I did. That’s just stupid.
Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas
Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
• 4 pineapple wedges or rings
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (divided in half)
• 8 flour tortillas
• Butter or margarine
• 3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 large jalapeno, chopped
Directions
Preheat grill to medium-high.
Place chicken in a Ziploc bag and pound out slightly to flatten to a uniform thickness. Sprinkle some salt, pepper, and a touch of cayenne on each chicken breast.
Coat grill grates with nonstick spray or oil. Place pineapple and chicken on grill; cook pineapple for 2 minutes per side and the chicken for 4-5 minutes per side, or until juices run clear (basting with 2 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce once you flip.)
Once cool to the touch, roughly chop up the chicken and pineapple.
To assemble, butter one side of each flour tortilla. On the non-buttered side, evenly sprinkle the cheese, chicken, pineapple, and jalapeno. Drizzle with the remaining barbecue sauce and top with a little more cheese. Place another tortilla on top, buttered side up.
Warm skillet over medium-high and cook each quesadilla for 1-2 minutes per side, until cheese is melted. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges. Serve with sour cream or more barbecue.
(slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks really nice. I like to stir fry pineapple with chicken, and add some sugar when do seasoning. Pineapple always a bit sour, I prefer it to be a bit sweet. :)
DUDE!! You know I just posted about this wonder tool on my FB page the other day!! It’s beyond awesome.
Pineapples and mangoes are SO worth the time and anguish and possible severe knife injuries in my opinion. However, considering the fact that I cut myself pretty badly last night on a ciabatta roll…I should probably get this splitter and avoid any further damage!
Oh man, you’re killing me with these grilled pineapple recipes. The charcoal grill is at my parents’–for the baby back rib festival on father’s day and it won’t fit in my trunk–and the collar connecting the gas line to the gas grill is broken. So I’ll have to borrow a cannibal pot or something, because I have to try this one! Yum.
Hi Andrea! Do you have a stove top grill pan? If not, maybe saute the chicken and pineapple in a regular pan. It won’t be exactly the same, but I bet it would still be yummy! It is all chopped up and melted with cheese in the end, after all.
I do, but I want the smokiness and caramelization one gets from a real grill. I can always just drag the Weber down the alleys from my parents’ house. That burns about 200 calories, so it might all work out, until I grill more pineapple and put caramel sauce and rum-enhanced whipped cream on top for dessert! Now I’m killing myself.
I hear ya. Nothing quite like slow roasted or grilled food. And caramel sauce/rum whipped cream? *high five*
This recipe sounds delicious. I am a bit worried about the barbecue sauce dip so I will probably experiment a bit. Thanks for posting this.
Hah! In that heat, I’d be a useless pile on the couch, so I’m impressed that you went ahead and fired up the grill even though it turned out to be not so great of an idea. =) It’s the power of good food–it drives us to suffer for it!
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