First off, let me start out by saying this is by far the most prettiest, fun to eat dish I have ever made. Purely because it's being enjoyed out of a beautiful pineapple, so visually appealing and so full of flavor. I made this for the first time yesterday, on Memorial Day and promised to share how I did it. This is a perfect addition to our Vegan Grilling Series full of vegan-friendly dishes for bbq/grilling season. Although this doesn't go on the grill, it surely compliments anything that does go on the grill!
This recipe is so easy. I mean, outside of cutting your pineapple properly, it is really super basic and takes less than 30 minutes total.
When you are buying your pineapple, make sure the pineapple stem leaves are dramatic/long enough for it to make a statement when its being served, as some of the pineapple tops/leaves are shorter than others.
Confession: I hate making rice from scratch as I usually f#ck it up, it's too sticky, clumpy, etc. Also, I had been preparing food/cooking/grilling dang near all afternoon so I wasn't about to be messing around with some funny actin' rice! So for the rice, I used Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice and so glad I did. It was perfect! The flavors and seasonings in the rice meshed perfectly with the pineapple.
I do not own any fancy tool to scoop out the pineapple to make the bowl, so I used an ice cream scoop and a jagged knife to cut out the inside of the pineapple. It got a tad messy but be sure to try to keep/transfer all the juice and pineapple to a separate container. You can juice it, make a pineapple cocktail or just snack on the fruit. Cut your pineapple in half (I started in the stem) with a long knife to make sure you are cutting it as evenly down the center as possible.
Once you scooped out the middle, just place your prepared rice and veggies inside and boom. A gorgeous dish that was fairly easy to prepare! I topped mine with the Everything Bagel Seasoning (Aldi brand, but just about any grocery store has a version), which adds a pretty contrast of color/texture and flavor.
This recipe makes two bowls and you will have some leftover rice (1-2 servings). Now this is how I prepared mine and although it was tantalizing..there are so many veggie options you can try! I was going to do some asparagus but my bowl was filled up already so passed. Also, you can do quinoa instead of rice. Lots-o-possibilities!
What I used to carve my pineapple's insides out :-)
A long, jagged knife
Large metal spoon or ice cream scoop
Ingredients:
1 package of Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice
1 tbsp of vegan butter (I use Earth Balance Soy Free)
1-1.5 tomatoes (I used a Roma tomato), diced
1/2 of a jalapeno, diced
1 small avocado, cubed (if you don't know how to dice an avocado, I gotchu! Watch me)
1/2 cup of a red onion, diced
2 tsp Everything Bagel Seasoning/Sea salt for topping
Optional:
1 tbsp of McCormick's Chipotle Garlic seasoning (or similar) for topping
Cilantro for topping (I ran out, otherwise it would have been on my bowl!)
Lime wedges/lime juice for garnishing/topping
Directions:
Start the rice first (prepare the rice per instructions on the box) and add vegan butter while its simmering
While rice is simmering, cut/prepare your pineapple bowl and dice veggies
Once rice is done, add about 1 cup of rice to each pineapple bowl (allow room in your bowl for toppings)
Add diced veggies, avocado, seasonings
Enjoy! I told ya it was easy!
Did you make this recipe? I need to know! Tag me on Insta @plantbasedtamika or on our Facebook Page, Chitown Vegan!