Pineapple Salsa

I love pineapple in all forms. Few of my favorite are fresh pineapple juice, pineapple fried rice and on Pizza. Haggin-das has pineapple coconut ice cream flavor I use to eat like crazy but now i got bored so for a while i’m taking break from that. First time when I had pineapple on pizza, I was really surprised with the taste and it just blended so well with other vegetables. Now salsa is added to the list.

Pineapple salsa is a spicy, sweet, colorful, and delicious – this is a versatile tropical salsa that goes well with any type of meal.Cumin adds smokiness to the dish and gives a unique flavor.I love to eat this with chips and also as a side dish with my Mexican favorites. This is a super easy recipe and is really great dish (summer) or anytime, also has a nice fresh taste. You can also serve this along with greens; the possibilities with this wonderful tropical fruit are endless. It not only a treat to eyes and mouth but also a crowd pleasing dish. I served this with regular store bough tortilla chips and it’s really tasted delicious and everyone loved it.

This is my entry for Mahi’s AFAM.

Ingredients

2 cups pineapples (clean and finely chopped)
1 small red onion (2tbsp, finely chopped)
2 tbsp finely chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeño pepper (de-seeded & finely chopped)
Juice of 1 lime
1-1 ½ tsp cumin powder
2-3 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves.
Salt to taste.

Procedure

In a large bowl, toss together pineapple, red bell pepper, onions, jalapeño pepper, lime juice and cilantro. Season with cumin and salt. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Notes and Tips.

You can use canned pineapple but drain all the juices and then use for making salsa. You can even grill the pineapple for extra flavor. If you don’t like cilantro you can use mint. Some times fresh pineapple may cause irritation of the tip of the tongue in some cases, so take a small bite and if u feel irritation, take a big bowl of water add little salt and drop the pineapple slices in salted water for 1-2 minutes, rinse with fresh water pat to dry and chop. My mom always does this. It really works. So sometimes even I do this.

Little History about Pineapples:-

The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant and fruit (berry), probably native to Brazil or Paraguay. Pineapples have excellent juiciness and a vibrant tropical flavor that balances the taste of sweet and tart. Pineapples are a composite of many flowers whose individual fruit-lets fuse together around a central core. Each fruit-let can be identified by an “eye,” the rough spiny marking on the pineapple’s surface. Pineapples are wide, cylindrical in shape, a scaly green, brown or yellow skin and a regal crown of spiky, blue-green leaves and fibrous yellow flesh. Pineapple is a good source of manganese, thaimin (Vitamin B1) as well as containing significant amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin B1, also pineapple contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain, which digests food by breaking down protein.

Pineapple is commonly used in desserts and other types of fruit dishes, or served on its own. The pineapple juice has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage commonly called pineapple wine, which is a type of fruit wine, most commonly produced in Hawaii. Pineapples are also used as topping for pizza, most commonly in the “Hawaiian” type pizza . Pineapple juice can thus be used as a marinade.

Although the season for pineapple runs from March through June, they are available year-round in local markets. It will not ripen once harvested, so must be harvested ripe and brought to the consumer without delay. Pineapple is therefore most widely available canned. Pineapples are second only to bananas as America’s favorite tropical fruit.

Source:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=34
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple