Hawaiian Chicken, Rice & Salsa

Pineapple/Mango Salsa:  My own recipe


1 fresh mango, diced
1 fresh pineapple, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 white onion, minced
1 yellow bell pepper, minced
1/8 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Combine all ingredients and chill until ready to serve with chicken and rice.

Chicken: 

The Hawaiian Chicken recipe was adapted from Cooking Light magazine.  The recipe below is tripled from the original recipe and I added a few ingredients to make it tastier.  12 servings as is.

3/4 cup pineapple/orange juice
6 tablespoons ketchup
6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
4.5 teaspoons minced, peeled ginger
3 tablespoons minced garlic
12 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved
cooking spray
2.25 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Rice:

6 cups Jasmine rice
7 cups liquid (4 cups of water and 3 cups pineapple/orange juice)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Combine first 5 ingredients for chicken recipe.  Reserve 3/4 cup marinade and refrigerate; place remaining marinade in a gallon-size Ziploc bag.  Add chicken breasts to bag and seal.  Chill 4 hours or overnight.

Prepare rice when 45 minutes before dinner remains.  Combine 6 cups Jasmine rice with water and pineapple/orange juice (7 cups total liquid) in rice cooker.

Heat grill to medium-high heat.  Coat grill with cooking spray.  Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade in bag.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Add chicken to grill; baste with reserved marinade.  Cook 6 minutes.  Turn chicken over; baste with reserved marinade.  Cook another 6 minutes. Note: I made this on my indoor panini grill and it only took 6 minutes for the halved chicken breasts!

When rice is finished in cooker, combine with 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir in cilantro. 

Here is a very handy tip: if you aren't going to use all of your cilantro (or other herbs) at one time, place cilantro, stems side down, in a small vase of cold water.  This method can help your herbs last up to one week and it looks pretty on the kitchen counter too!