No better way to hone in on those succulent summer fruits then creating a pineapple salad that is to die for. Complement it with sweet red papaya, toasted coconut and juicy heirloom tomatoes. What are you waiting for?
Using a serrated bread knife, cut the top off the pineapple and remove the skin. Using a standard knife, remove the eyes. Then slice into large wheels about 1.5 cm and 2 cm thick.
Baste each side of the pineapple wheels with avocado oil. Baste the grill pan with any remaining oil. In medium to high heat, grill each side for 3 minutes each.
Remove the skin and seeds from the papaya and cut into chunks.
Slice the tomatoes crossways.
In a small fry pan, dry toast the shredded coconut for about 1 minute or until golden brown.
Remove the leaves of the Vietnamese mint and curry leaves from the stalk and slice them thinly.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the papaya, coconut, Vietnamese mint and curry leaves. Gently fold until well combined.
Salad Dressing
In a small saucepan, add the palm sugar with water and bring to the boil. After it has completely dissolved, on medium heat, boil for another 3 minutes.
Then add the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and chilli flakes. Boil for another 30 seconds.
Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Assembly
On a large flat platter, place the tomatoes on the perimeter.
Add the large wheels of charred pineapple on top of the tomatoes. The centre is to remain empty.
Place the papaya mixture in the middle of the platter and some on top of the tomatoes.
Drizzle the spicy palm sugar dressing all over the pineapple salad.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve.
Notes
When selecting your pineapple, ensure that it is ripe and on the yellow side. If you’re able to purchase a whole peeled pineapple, you would be able to see if it’s ripe. It will also reduce your prep time.
You can put the pineapples on the BBQ if you have that going. In fact, it will give it a better char and those smoky BBQ flavours. You can also bake it if you prefer. 15 minutes on each side on a parchment lined sheet pan.
You can use fresh, dried or frozen coconut for this recipe.
If you can’t get your hands on some palm sugar from your Asian grocer, use brown sugar instead. The flavours won’t be the same, but it would be the closest alternative.
For a gluten free version of the dressing, replace soy sauce with tamari.