I love summer-like island food. I especially love it when it comes off the grill...who's with me? If you're saying "Me!" right now, then this is for you! Last week I was lucky enough to make Hawaiian Steaks with Grilled Pineapple Salad and Coconut Lime Rice, and man, oh man, it was delicious!
The steaks were OK, and I so want to combine these other two side dishes with THE perfect Hawaiian steak, so for now, we'll just ignore the one I made last week and I'll work on a revised steak for next time. But I want these other two recipes in your hands because they were both dynamite and really easy to pull together.
The Grilled Pineapple Salad was super easy and started with some slices of pepper and pineapple. There was some chopped scallions and juiced and zested lime - and that's about it, besides a little salt and pepper. The pineapple and peppers take a quick trip to the grill and after they tenderize, they get chopped with the remaining ingredients to form a hot and tangy side salad that was bursting with tropical island flavors.
Of course, this is salad, and salad can be super flexible. If you have the time and the energy, this would have been awesome with chopped mango, cilantro, papaya or even a small grilled jalapeno. The sweetness of the fruit with the tangy lime juice was just a perfect combo and was a total hit.
I started the Coconut Lime Rice before I grilled the salad because once I got it going, it sort of simmered on its own for about 20 minutes. The smell of the rice and coconut flakes toasting in the coconut oil and butter was beyond amazing. The house smelled like a Hawaiian luau!
This was my first time making rice with coconut milk and I love the way it prepared and the way it changed the rice a little bit. The rice was not sticky at all.
Again, rice can also be super flexible and this would have been awesome with chopped pineapple, chopped mango, diced onion or even chopped macadamia nuts, if you like a little crunch. It was delicious and light and the perfect side for the steak and salad.
The original Hawaiian steak recipe I was using was a little bland and not as vibrant as these two dishes, and so I will go back to the drawing board on that one, but if you are grilling up some meat and are looking for some sweet, tangy and delicious side dishes, you can't go wrong with Grilled Pineapple Salad and Coconut Lime Rice!
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