Last week, we tried out one of those meal plan boxes. If you're unfamiliar with the concept: you get a a box delivered on the Sunday/Monday with a pre-planned dinner menu for the week complete with the recipes and all the ingredients. You still have to cook your food, but all the planning is taken out of the equation, you end up with way less food waste, and you get to try a couple of new recipes. We ordered it just to try it out and don't plan on turning it into a weekly affair, but I can also see us doing it again sometime.
As a special offer, we also got a free box of fruit with our meal plan box. It seemed like a good idea at the time when I was ordering, but I didn't really realize how big the box would be, and in retrospect I think about half of the amount of fruit would have been more appropriate for two adults. I've been starting my days with fresh smoothies everyday and constantly nagging at Graeme to take more fruit with him to work, but there's still a lot left. It also doesn't help that with a few exceptions, I'm allergic to most tropical fruit, so there's only so much of it I can actually eat. Bananas, melons, avocados, kiwis and even certain nuts will make me itch all down my throat, eyes and ears, and can even cause my tongue and throat to swell up. It's not so bad that I need to carry around an epipen or anything, but the reaction can last all day so I generally find that it's just not really worth it haha.
One thing I've learnt though, is that for some reason I can eat most of these fruits if they've been cooked. Fruit compotes, pineapple on pizza, coconut curry or mango baked into a cake? Yes, please, don't mind if I do! So in an effort to eliminate some tropical fruits from our fruit boxes, I decided to turn that deadly fresh pineapple into a delicious pineapple chutney. Now we're talking!
Ingredients:
1 red onion, chopped
3 chilis, chopped (I used really mild chilis, so I decided to leave the seeds in)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 pineapple, chopped into chunks
175 ml apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Add the onion, chilis and spices to a medium sized pot with a bit of oil, and cook on medium high heat until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the pineapple and vinegar, and let it simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes and get thick and chunky. Transfer to sterilized jars and let cool.
This chutney is delicious with barbecued pork, or on a burger. Or, you know, you could enjoy it in one of my favorite ways to enjoy pretty much any chutney: in a grilled cheese sandwich. Lunch is served!
And there he was, our little Oscar Finch.
