Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chicken with Cauliflower Steaks

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Wow!!  This meal was heavenly!!  An explosion of all the right flavors.  And to make it even better, the only thing that wasn't cooked on the grill was the sweet and sour sauce.  I LOVE grilling.  I, honestly, didn't start grilling until maybe a year ago.  But once you master it, you'll never go back.  

I was sitting in a very boring meeting the other week, and my mind naturally wondered to food.  What about cauliflower and pineapple?!  Sounded interesting so I got to brainstorming.  With a homemade sweet and sour sauce, grilled chicken thighs, grilled pineapple, and grilled cauliflower steaks, this more than hit the spot!!   

Meal Macros: 6 ounce chicken thighs, 115 grams grilled pineapple, 60 grams grilled cauliflower, 1 Tablespoon sweet and sour sauce

Protein: 37 grams/Carbs: 22 grams/Fat: 10.5 grams

Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chicken with Cauliflower Steaks 

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

  • 2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 2 cups pineapple juice
  • sea salt and black pepper to taste

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 5 Tablespoons pineapple juice
  • 1 Tablespoons coconut aminos (I used liquid aminos)
  • 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon sriracha
  • 4 Tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup water + 1 Tablespoon corn starch in separate bowl

1 Pineapple peeled, cored, and slice

For the Cauliflower:

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • paprika
  • chili powder
  • garlic powder
  • coconut sugar
  • sea salt
  • coconut oil cooking spray

Optional (but it should be mandatory), chopped cilantro 

 

 

Method:

Start by marinating the chicken thighs in pineapple juice.  I had mine marinating for about 4 hours, but you don't have to be as enthusiastic as I was.  An hour would do.  

Next up, sweet and sour sauce.  Combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan, except for cornstarch mixture, and heat over low heat.  Mix your cornstarch and 1/4 cup water in a separate bowl.  Bring heat to medium and add cornstarch mixture to sauce pan until the sauce is the desired consistency.  It will start to thicken up.  Remove from heat, or keep at a very low temperature.  

Remove leaves on cauliflower head and trim the stem until you can set cauliflower flat on cutting board.  Cut cauliflower in half, straight down the middle.  Slice into 1" thick "steaks".  There will be florets that fall off and crumble.  Don't throw them away!  You can use them as cauliflower rice for another meal. 

Now lets fire up that grill and start preparing your sliced pineapple, chicken thighs, and cauliflower steaks!  Remove chicken from marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Spray cauliflower steaks with coconut oil and season both sides with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and coconut sugar.  The pineapple does not need anything added to it.  

Chicken thighs will cook on grill at medium/high heat until internal temperature of 165, approximately 8-10 minutes each side.  

Grill pineapple and cauliflower steaks about 4-5 minutes each side.  

Last step... lets put it all together!  The cauliflower steak will be your first layer, pineapple slice(s) as second layer, and chicken on top.  Drizzle sweet and sour sauce over chicken and top it off with some chopped cilantro.  

Enjoy!!