We are so lucky in Australia with our beautiful range of lovely, fresh fruit and vegetables. The pineapples this year have been spectacularly sweet and perfect. I haven’t been able to go past them in the supermarkets or fruit shops.

Then there is the trouble of trying not to eat an entire pineapple between two people in one sitting! It’s so tempting and lovely, the only reason I am able to stop myself is because I know I’ll want some the next day too!

Pineapples go well in fruit salads and a lot of sweet dishes and desserts, although surprisingly goes perfectly well with a fruit inspired, partly savoury, main meal.

One particular reason for my trial of this dish was to broaden the variety of salads I will eat, along with using some pomegranate seeds, which I haven’t really experimented with that much.

All in all, the flavours work beautifully together and this is a lovely summer dinner. It tastes like a wonderfully healthy main meal with great textures and flavours.

Herb and Orange Chicken with Pineapple and Capsicum served with Pomegranate, Orange and Baby Spinach Salad

Recipes by me – Anita @ Leave Room for Dessert

Herb and Orange Chicken

Serves: 4

2 chicken breasts (cut through or left whole)
1 orange, juiced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
6 chives, chopped
3 oregano leaves, chopped
18 leaves basil, chopped
1 tablespoon honey

Place all ingredients in a bowl and marinate overnight.

Heat a non-stick pan on medium/high and cook the chicken on both sides, until cooked through. (Slice the chicken through the middle, if you would prefer to make the cooking easier and quicker)

Pomegranate, Orange and Baby Spinach Salad

Serves: 4

2 handfuls baby spinach
1/2 pomegranate, seeded (60 seeds juiced or popped to get 2 teaspoons)
2 orange (1 segmented, 1 juiced)
1 teaspoon caster sugar

Place the washed baby spinach on a plate. Mix the sugar with the juice of half the orange and the teaspoon of pomegranate juice for dressing. Place the orange segments and pomegranate seeds on the spinach. Pour dressing over salad.

Pineapple and Capsicum addition

Serves: 4
1 red capscium, diced
2 slices pineapple diced
1-2 slices pineapple, cut into quarters (optional – for cooking with the chicken to get caramelised pineapple)

Place combined capsicum and pineapple on the cooked chicken.

If you are caramelising some pineapple, add it to the pan with the half cooked chicken (so it’s not cooking in raw meat juice), or cook separately on medium heat until both sides of the pineapple are caramelised.