Grilled Pineapple

When I first embarked on this diet, I would eat pineapple quite frequently. I put it in nearly all of the smoothies I concocted. Once in a while, when I ran out of fresh pineapple, I would use canned pineapple, but I found that my stomach got a little upset whenever I did that.

When I had my hernia surgery during my recovery period I stopped making smoothies. When I started up again I found that my stomach got upset whenever I used pineapple. 🙁 Dang! Another food eliminated...

...Or is it?

Whenever I have a barbecue--or am invited to one--I like to prepare grilled pineapple. I've always loved the cooked pineapple at Brazilian restaraunts, and this is a great approximation. At my most recent barbecue I decided to try eating the grilled pineapple and found that my stomach did not protest in any way. I had tried fresh pineapple the day before (just a couple small chunks) and my stomach started to churn a little, so I am still sensitive to fresh pineapple just not cooked pineapple. The cooking process must do something to the proteins in the pineapple which allow my body to process them.

Anyway, this is my recipe for grilled pineapple.

Tools

• Basting brush/oil sprayer (I prefer the sprayer)
• Paper towels
• Cutting board
• Large knife
• Grill

Ingredients

• 1 whole pineapple
• Neutral-tasting oil (e.g. refined coconut/MCT oil)

Directions

1. Cut the pineapple into wedges (you can read more in this previous post)
1. You could also use a pineapple corer and cut out pineapple rings instead of wedges
2. Using the paper towels, pat the wedges dry of surface moisture
3. Using the oil sprayer/basting brush, apply the oil as a thin layer on all sides of the wedges
4. Cook each wedge until it has nice grill marks (It should only be a couple of minutes)
1. Place the wedges on the fired-up grill
2. Flip each wedge after it has good grill marks on one side so you will get grill marks on the other side
3. Continue cooking until the two larger sides have good grill-marks
5. Plate and serve!

NOTE: The oil is what actually gets you the good grill marks, so it is essential for this process. Otherwise you will have cooked pineapple which doesn't look like it ever touched a grill. Removing the surface moisture helps ensure you have a consistent, stationary coat of oil (oil and water don't mix, after all).