Truth be told, it probably requires more than thirty minutes, unless you begin with all your prep done, and nobody speaks to you during the process. This would never happen in my house! If you manage to discover a few spare moments in your day (a rare occurrence, I know), do some food prep, so you’re ready to go at cooking time.
This is pretty, yummy and healthy! My kids like it without the fresh herbs. I much prefer it with. You decide!
Ingredients:
- 8 chicken tenders
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple in its own juice
- 1 cup roasted red bell peppers, drained and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup each, finely chopped mint leaves, and finely chopped cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil to grill
- 1 cup couscous
Preparation:
Serves 4
In a medium sized bowl, coat the chicken tenders with the soy sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Using a strainer and the back of a spoon, drain the pineapple, reserving all of the juice (1 1/4 cups) into a small sauce pan for the couscous.
To make the salsa, combine the pineapple, peppers, mint, cilantro, and lime juice in a medium mixing bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring the reserved pineapple juice to a boil and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot, remove it from the heat, and let stand for four minutes. Preheat a stove-top grill or BBQ over high heat. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator, season each side with salt and pepper, and drizzle it with olive oil.
Place the chicken on the grill. And here’s an important tip: you should hear a sizzling sound whenever you put any food on the grill. If you don’t, your grill’s not hot enough. Wait until the grill is very hot and listen for the sizzle! Grill the chicken for about three minutes per side.
Mix all but a half cup of the salsa into the couscous. Season to taste with salt and pepper again. Use the remaining salsa to garnish the chicken, on top of the couscous.
A couple more notes:
I try to only use fresh ingredients, however, canned pineapple is perfect and easy for this recipe. Peppers you’ve roasted yourself are divine, but the roasting makes for a long process.
Grilling is wonderful, as it adds such a great smoky, charred flavor! If you don’t have a grill, you can use a saute pan (over high heat), following the same directions.
