Otherwise known as the most tropical dinner I’ve ever made. Aloha!

I feel like this also got me out of my chicken rut. Lately, my chicken dinners have been so blah. Completely edible, but not exciting and only just…decent. I’ve just gotten out of my groove, and chicken has been pretty dry and flavorless. Of course this was something I had to fix.

Voila!

This was easy to throw together. An excellent weeknight dinner when you’re starving after work. The chicken and the rice can cook simultaneously, so it won’t take more than 30 minutes for this meal. And although I cooked everything on the stove top, it went quickly enough that I didn’t heat up the house too much.

I marinated the chicken ahead of time, but I’m not sure if that’s truly necessary. I think it would have been great either way. I’ll make it again and find out.

I also had a bit of trouble with the rice. I felt like it absorbed all the liquid so fast, but then it was still a bit crunchy. That’s never happened before, so I wonder if I have old rice? Or if we had extremely dry air that day? (This is Montana, after all.) I’m going to call it a fluke and hope it doesn’t happen to you. Let me know how it goes, ok?

Pineapple Chicken with Coconut Rice
Serves 4

For the Chicken

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup olive oil (for the marinade)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (for the marinade)
• 1/2 tsp salt (for the marinade)
• 1 1/2 cup pineapple chunks (I used a fresh pineapple, but canned will work too! Just drain the juice first)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

If you’re going to marinate the chicken, add the olive oil, lemon juice and salt together in a large ziplock bag. Give it a little shake to combine. Then add the chicken and refrigerate for an hour or several hours.
In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium heat until melted. Add the sliced chicken and onions and cook, flipping the chicken slices as needed. When the chicken is close to cooked all the way through, add the pineapple slices and sweet chili sauce. Turn the heat down a bit, and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through and your rice is done.

For the Rice

• 1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice
• 2 cups canned coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 clove of garlic, minced

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can add more water if necessary a 1/2 cup at a time. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Place the rice in a bowl and top with the pineapple chicken. I used more sweet chili sauce to garnish, and we ate with chopsticks for fun.