If you’re not sure what to make for dinner tonight, grab a pen and paper and write this one down! This is by far one of my favorite meals. I have been contemplating on sharing. It’s that good! I thought about being selfish and keeping it a secret recipe, but I’m not good at keeping secrets. It took me about a month to work up the unselfishness, but I finally decided to share!
This salad is so fresh and light, but keeps you full at the same time. It’s comforting and a perfect way to finish off the summer. There are not many “grilling” weather days left, so it’s time to take advantage of it!
I guess this is two recipes in one post! I took a couple of pointers from the Barefoot Contessa and found a new favorite way to eat my sweet potato and zucchini fries!
First, I’ll start off with the grilled pineapple and shrimp! You will need about 1/4 of a fresh ripe pineapple.
Choosing the perfect pineapple: Did you know that pineapples are picked when ripe? If you are trying to decide on which pineapple is ripe at the grocery store; don’t worry! They all are! Just make sure you don’t choose a rotten one! Smell the pineapple. It should have a fresh sweet scent rather than a fermented one. The leaves should be nice and green! Growing up in Hawaii meant always having the best pineapples!
Lay a piece of tin foil out and spray it with cooking spray.
Add rinsed and uncooked shrimp on top of the tin foil. Squeeze the pineapple so that the juice marinates the uncooked shrimp. Sprinkle with your choice of seasonings. I chose to use an onion and garlic seasoning mix.
Next add about one tablespoon of brown sugar over the shrimp. Don’t waste the squeezed pineapple slice. Scoop out the “pulp” of the pineapple and lay it on top of the shrimp.
Let that mixture marinate for about 10-15 minutes. You can do it early morning and come home and add it straight to the grill. That will make the marinade stronger and your late night dinner quicker!
For another sweet and delicious side, I made glazed pineapples to add to the salad. Grease a piece of tin foil with cooking spray and sprinkle a little brown sugar or honey on top. Wrap it up and set aside to cook with the shrimp!
While the shrimp is marinating, prepare the fries!
Microwave a large sweet potato for about two minutes to soften it up. That will make it easier to slice. Sweet potatoes can be harsh on the wrist if you don’t have a good knife set.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Grease a baking sheet with coconut oil, cooking spray, or olive oil. I used olive oil for these.
In a mixing bowl add cut sweet potato and zucchini. Drizzle olive oil on top and two tablespoons of brown sugar. I saw Barefoot Contessa use brown sugar on her sweet potato fries and it gives them the perfect crunch and an outstanding flavor. These taste restaurant style. You don’t have to go overboard on the brown sugar. A little goes a long ways.
Add the seasoned fries onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle a savory seasoning on top. I used black pepper, garlic, and onion seasoning.
Bake for about 20 minutes and flip once.
Place the shrimp and pineapple on the heated grill. Don’t over cook the shrimp or it’ll be chewy. No one likes chewy shrimp. Keep and eye one it.
The pineapples will brown on the sides and don’t forget to flip them! Take them off after 5-6 minutes of cooking
Once the shrimp turns pink, shut off the grill and wrap the shrimp up. Don’t worry if it’s not fully cooked. The shrimp finishing cooking itself off the grill.
Instead of adding a dressing to the salad, I made a chunky avocado peach topping to replace the dressing.
Slice up one ripe avocado.
How to pick the perfect avocado. You can always tell if an avocado is ripe by feeling it. If it’s firm, most likely it’s not ripe. You can also tell if the avocado is rotten by looking at it’s stem. If the stem is brown, then it is over ripe. If it’s soft, not mushy and has a green stem then grab it before someone else does!
In a mixing bowl add sliced avocado, one sliced peach, a tablespoon of organic honey and combine! If you are serving this salad later, make sure to place the pit on top to prevent the avocado from browning. You could also add lemon juice, but that takes away the peachy flavor!
Add the pineapples to the shrimp.
You can add the avocado peach salad to the warm shrimp and pineapple like I did, or you can keep it on the side to add straight to the salad. It all depends on what temperature you like your avocados. I like might slightly warm.
Oh and don’t forget to take your fries out of the oven! Let them cool before trying, or you’ll be making that “omg it’s hot heee hoooo ahhh huffy puffy face”.
I like the strong flavor of spring mix lettuce, but you can use whichever lettuce greens you’d like! Spinach or romaine would be delicious, too!
At the bottom of the tin foil, there is a sweet pineapple glaze. I drizzled a little over the spring lettuce before topping it with the shrimp mixture to give it an extra boost of flavor!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!
