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Jim’s Grilled Pineapple and Mango Salsa

By Jim Walline

Pineapple is a delicious tropical fruit on its own. But grilling them with Dizzy Pig’s Pineapple Head seasoning deepens its flavor and imparts a caramelized crust with a lovely hint of smoke. Add fresh mango, red pepper, lime and jalapeño, and you have a vibrant, slightly sweet and spicy salsa that is delicious on so many things. Serve it with chicken, burgers, tacos, wraps, salad, nachos or enjoy it on its own.

Our good friend Jim Walline says it’s a game changer for parties and will be a hit at any BBQ.

Ingredients

Print Recipe

1 pineapple, cored and cut (lengthwise) into 8 pieces
4 mangos, diced
1 purple onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
Cilantro
1 lime
2 jalapeños
Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head rub (secret ingredient)
Salt

Directions

Dice the mangoes, onion and red pepper, and put into a large bowl. Everything will be done by taste, so if you love mangos, add more (I generally do). I also get a large purple onion and only dice a half of one.
Take some of the cilantro (a little goes a long way….a couple tablespoons once finely chopped) and add it to the mix.
You can get a cored pineapple in most supermarkets. They’re either pre-sliced, or you can slice them yourself.
Probably the most important part of this salsa is the Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head rub. It has demerara sugar, chiles, cinnamon and other great stuff in there. You can find it online… but it is a MUST HAVE for this.
Liberally coat the pineapple in the rub and then grill it long enough to get some nice grill marks and they soften up a bit. The rub will melt and caramelize… which is exactly what you want!
Put a couple jalapeños on the grill at the same time as the pineapple.
You’ll want them to blister and once you have that done, put them in a baggie or a container so that they can steam. This will let you remove the skin a bit later.
Dice the pineapple and add it to the rest of the ingredients. Your salsa should be looking amazing at this point… taste test away!
Squeeze in a lime at some point. I generally do it before I dice up the pineapple…
Remove the skin from the jalapeños, remove the seeds and vein. Give them a fine dice and then add them to the salsa. This should be “by taste” so add… or don’t add… or double the recipe and do one of each.
If you want to add some salt, go for it. Less salt is better on this one, but a teaspoon is a decent guideline if you like to measure things (I don’t).
This salsa is a game changer! We’ve served it with blackened mahi-mahi tacos, and Jamaican jerk pork tenderloin.
Note that the salsa will be better a day after you make it… if it lasts that long.

Step by Step

Grill jalapeños at the same time as the pineapple

Put a couple jalapeños on the grill at the same time as the pineapple. Grill pineapple slices long enough to get some nice grill marks and they soften up a bit. The rub will melt and caramelize… which is exactly what you want!