Combinations of textures and flavors make this grilled pineapple and cucumber salad not only a treat for the eyes, but a delight for the tongue. The perfect dish for your next backyard barbecue or luau, this salad hits all the right notes.

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Grilled Pineapple & Cucumber Salad

Combinations of textures and flavors make this grilled pineapple and cucumber salad not only a treat for the eyes, but a delight for the tongue. The perfect dish for your next backyard barbecue or luau, this salad hits all the right notes.

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Hawaiian, Vegetarian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 1 small pineapple halved
• 1 large cucumber seeded and diced
• 1 red hot pepper Thai chili, jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 small red onion diced
• 3 Tablespoon mint rough chopped
• 3 Tablespoon cilantro rough chopped
• 3 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• fresh pepper
• 1 - 2 teaspoons minced garlic optional

Instructions

• Cut pineapple in half with a sharp knife.
• Using a paring knife, carefully remove the core from one half. With a melon-baller hallow out to create a serving bowl and set aside.
• Trim the top and the outer layer off of the other half and removed the core, keeping the fruit in a large piece.
• Heat grill to medium. Place the pineapple bowl face down on the grill for about 5 minutes or until grill marks have formed on the top.
• Grill the large pieces of pineapple for about 5 minutes on each side or until slightly tender. Allow the pineapple bowl and grilled fruit to cool.
• Seed and dice cucumber and pepper and place in a large mixing bowl.
• Dice pineapple and onion and add to the mixture.
• Rough chop the mint and cilantro and toss with the salad.
• In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, and salt & pepper. Pour over salad and toss to coat.

Serve

• Spoon into pineapple bowl. Refill the bowl as needed.

Notes

Use 2 tablespoon of fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of lime juice for the dressing to give this a Thai twist.

Recently a dear friend of mine who lives in Kapa’a, on the “coconut coast” of Kauai, Hawaii, told me a story about some good fortune he had received. It seems his neighbor had experienced an extremely good day fishing, and was kind enough to share his bounty with Stephen and his family. A beautiful Ahi tuna. I could hardly imagine such a wonderful gift (Of course I realize that living in Colorado, the odds that anyone would drop by with a fresh caught tuna are pretty slim).

Kauai, known as the “Garden Isle” is the oldest of the Hawaiian islands. It gets is nickname due to the fact that 97% of the island is composed of undeveloped mountain ranges and rainforests. Kauai also has 43 miles of beaches, the most per coastal mile of any of the Hawaiian islands.

A couple of important parts of Hawaiian culture are family and food. I knew that Stephen, being a native Hawaiian, would do something wonderful with the fish, and of course include his family in whatever it was he decided to do. He told me he used the fresh fish to create a poke, which is a Hawaiian term meaning to slice or cut. As soon as I saw the photo of the amazing looking dish that he had prepared, I begged him for the recipe. He chuckled due to the fact that he and his family make poke on a regular basis and have for many years. As in many traditional types of dishes, the recipes are not written, just learned and passed from one family member to another. Stephen was gracious enough to speak with his mother and put together a “recipe” for me to share. So Stephen to you and your family (and your neighbor) I say “Mahalo Nui Loa”.

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Ahi Poke

Mouthwatering bites of tender fresh ahi are the star of this delicious and health treat.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Hawaiian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 pound sashimi-grade ahi tuna cut into 1/2″ cubes
• ¼ cup Maui sweet onion thinly sliced
• ¼ cup green onions diced
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger root grated
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon dark sesame oil
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon chili oil
• ½ teaspoon red Hawaiian Alaea sea salt or Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients well, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours to let flavors develop and marry.

Serve

• Place some poke in a martini glass and call it a “poke-‘tini”.
• Cut up won ton skins into triangles and fry in oil until crispy golden brown. Drain on paper bag. Sprinkle with a little sea salt while still hot. Line a serving plate with shredded Napa cabbage, then begin with a layer of chips, spoon some poke on the chips, then repeat layers building up to three layers–depending how high you want to make them. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce. Garnish with cilantro.

Notes

Note from Stephen: This is basically how we make it, but it’s mostly eyeballing the seasonings for the fish, and tasting to correct, if needed.

You can serve the poke in a martini glass and call it a “poke-‘tini”. Or you can eat it as a salad appetizer, like we locals do at the pu-pu hour–and you know how we like to eat poke while drinking da kine beer! Another way of serving the poke is over a salad of micro-greens that have been dressed with a light Asian vinaigrette and topped with the poke.

Or you can eat the poke as nachos: First, cut up some won ton skins into triangles and then fry them until crispy golden brown. Drain on paper bag, rather than paper towels. Sprinkle a little salt while they are still hot. Then to plate, line the serving plate with shredded Napa cabbage, then begin a layer of won ton chips, spoon some poke on the chips, then begin another layer of chips and more poke, building up to three layers–depending how high you want to make them. There is NO cheese whatsoever in this nachos recipe!  Serve with some wasabi and soy sauce. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro. (But if you don’t care for cilantro, then omit it, or maybe a sprig of Thai basil.) A hui hou!

With temperatures reaching into the 80’s this weekend, it seemed like we were having a tropical heat wave. So I decided to cook something that reminded me of the many wonderful times I have spent in the Aloha state.

During the early 80’s I was working as a bartender at a ski resort in Summit County, Colorado. How lucky I was to have been hired for a position at an aprés ski lodge at the base of the mountain. Those were wild and crazy times I tell you, pretty much like Hot Tub Time Machine.

One of the neatest things about resort life is how the people you work with really become your comrades. It was just such a co-worker from Maui who I became good friends with, Tracey had come to escape “island fever”, to experience some winter, and ski for a season. When the mountain closed she invited me to spend the “mud season” at her ocean side house in the small town of Paia, located on the north shore of Maui on the road to Hana town. With no work and a pocket full of tips from the winter season, I gladly accepted the invitation. Tracey introduced me to a friend of hers, Bob Kiger who had recently move to Paia from L.A.  He had escaped the hectic lifestyle of a Hollywood producer to become a laid back surfer dude, and to start a bike rental company. His idea was to take people by van to the top of the Haleakalā Volcano (elevation 10,023 feet) to watch the sunrise, and then guide them on a ride down the mountain on California Cruiser style bikes. He offered me a free trip to check out his idea, which I eagerly accepted.  Little did we know at the time that his crazy notion would become the incredibly successful Cruiser Bob’s Maui Bike Tours.

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Island-style BBQ Chicken (Ka Moa)

Island food is an amazing combination of fresh flavors combining Hawaiian tradition with some Asian influence creating a flavor that is out of this world.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Hawaiian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup of spicy BBQ sauce
• ½ cup Hoisin sauce
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ginger finely minced
• 4 fresh chicken quarters

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Preheat your grill on high. When hot, turn off one half leaving the other half on high.
• Place the chicken on the side of the grill with no heat and close the lid.
• Cook for about 10 minutes.
• Open the grill and brush all sides of the chicken with the glaze.
• Close the lid and continue to cook for another 20 minutes checking meat with a thermometer. Remove chicken from grill when it tests 165º F. Cooking times will vary depending on the size and the cut of the meat
• Tent the chicken with foil and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

Notes

I like to use chicken quarters, but any cut will work for this dish.

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Haleakalā Slaw (House of the sun)

An explosion of flavors from sweet to heat make this slaw an interesting side dish. Definitely not the your mothers slaw.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Hawaiian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

Slaw

• ¼ head of cabbage core removed and thinly sliced
• 1 carrot cut into matchsticks
• 1 jalapeno slivered
• 4 - 5 green onions thinly sliced
• 1½ cup bean sprouts
• 1 orange pepper cut into small strips
• ¼ fresh pineapple core removed and cut into bite size pieces
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon ginger minced
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Slaw

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss with hands to mix well.

Dressing

• Whisk together and pour of slaw, mixing well to coat evenly. Use only enough dressing to coat.

 Mahalo for reading my story. I truly hope you will enjoy this dish.  Aloha!