Cheeky Tinned Fruit Pineapple Salsa

Fresh pineapple is summer holidays, and lazy days, and cocktails, and moonlit nights, and pina colada, and getting caught in the rain. Not to mention, there’s something saucy about salsa.

But I’m not even pretending I used fresh pineapple! 😂 Which is why this tinned fruit pineapple salsa is not just saucy, but cheeky.

Finding sweet, ripe pineapple can be problematic. Sometimes, pineapples don’t even smell like pineapples any more. Do you smell fruit, too, before you buy it? Not all, but certainly with pineapple, especially if the crown has been cut, because I can’t do the old pull-out-the-middle-spike ripeness test.

So with this recipe I get to use up some of the tins of pineapple that multiply by themselves in my pantry. This particular cheeky pineapple salsa is chunky, but it can always be chopped finer and prettier. Lime and coriander make it elite. There’s even enough left over to have with tortilla chips and a margarita at beer o’clock the next day.

Speaking of beer o’clock, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar knew the importance of a little lime, which to me is another prime summer ingredient. Here, he’s dreaming of fishing and relaxing with some libation.

I would eschew mine every task,
In Nature’s smiles my soul should bask,
And I methinks no more could ask,
Except—perhaps—one little flask.

In case of accident, you know,
Or should the wind come on to blow,
Or I be chilled or capsized, so,
A flask would be the only go.

Then I could spend a happy time,—
A bit of sport, a bit of rhyme
(A bit of lemon, or of lime,
To make my bottle’s contents prime).

-Paul Laurence Dunbar, from “In August” in the Public Domain. Full poem here.

“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”

-Spongebob Squarepants

Cheeky Tinned Pineapple Salsa

Cha cha, cha cha cha

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Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Course: Salad, Side Dish, Snack

Keyword: salsa

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 x430g tin pineapple slices, drained well, about 3½ cups, chopped finely
• 1 avocado, chopped, you can use more if you like it
• ½ medium red capsicum (pepper), chopped finely
• ½ red onion, chopped finely (I can't eat it raw so I microwave it for a minute, but lime juice naturally mellows the bite of the raw onion if you like it raw)
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped (see above, can be thrown in with the onion in the microwave)
• juice of 2 limes & zest of 1 lime
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ cup coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
• fresh chilli (optional garnish, to your taste)

Instructions

• Assemble pineapple, avocado and capsicum in a bowl.
• Mix the lime juice with onion, garlic, zest and salt. Pour over the ingredients and fold carefully. Mix in the coriander.
• Garnish with finely chopped chilli if using