Grilled pork and pineapple salad

This is not your average grilled dish or salad, as everything is grilled, salad included! This grilled pork and pineapple salad is an easy, tasty summer meal.

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I don't know about where you are, but it's finally grilling season here. I know some people are happy to stand by the grill in the snow, but I'm not one of them, I'm afraid - not only is it uncomfortable but it somehow just doesn't feel right to be eating nice lightly charred food when it's freezing outside. Now that the sun has a bit of warmth to it, though (well, at least most of the time), things are different.

This salad fits perfectly into the need to get back in to grilling while being a little different from just throwing on a piece of meat. It's a delicious mix of sweet and savory and best of all, it's really easy to make as you grill nearly everything that goes in it.

When I say this is called a grilled pork and pineapple salad, I don't mean it's grilled pork WITH pineapple and other salad ingredients, I mean it's grilled pork AND grilled pineapple AND grilled salad. Lots of great grilling flavor all combined together into one delicious dish.

When we first moved to our current house in Cambridge, MA we were coming from London with most of our things shipped to arrive a few months later. Of course we were incredibly lucky to have found somewhere to move right in to as we moved country.

Just as luckily, my mother in law drove up from Pennsylvania with a few pieces of furniture that happened to have become available for us to use, but it was all a bit bare until other things arrived. We also had a few things we needed to buy since we either left them in our apartment in London for those renting it or had never needed one before. A grill was one of the latter.

We took advantage of my mother in law being in town with a van to get a few bigger things like that (and a crib etc for my son that was due about a month later!) and needless to say, being summer, we quickly got in to grilling quite a lot in the evening. It was something we had missed in London and some outdoor space at least big enough to hold a grill and a table to sit out had been high on our list when looking for a place to live.

Nowadays, we still enjoy grilling and sitting outside for our meals regularly in the warmer months but like to vary what we have too. Things like a simple steak on the grill (or dressed up with chimichurri and grilled vegetables) and chicken satay are definitely favorites, but I like to try new things as well and this grilled pork and pineapple salad is one I decided to give a try recently.

I think for me one of the great things with grilling is not only the great flavor you can get but that you can make a meal relatively quickly, and this dish definitely shows off both of those sides of grilling to the max.

How to make this grilled pork and pineapple salad

You prepare the pork by giving it a simple spice rub which is inspired by Jamaican jerk seasoning (as in my jerk chicken). Then you cook it on the grill along with all the other salad ingredients which are grilled until lightly browned.

Everything is cooked in larger pieces to make them easier to grill, then once done you chop them up and serve. There's a light citrus dressing that just helps bring it together that you can spice up a little if you like or leave it more simple to just enjoy the grilling flavors.

This grilled pork and pineapple salad is great warm or at room temperature as the flavors  and textures work either way. There's a tasty balance between the seasoned meat, sweet pineapple and slightly crunchy vegetables, all with that grill flavor throughout.

It's so easy to put together but has so much flavor and is hearty enough to be a proper meal, it's a great alternative to steak, burgers or sausages when you feel like grilling but haven't planned ahead. Plus it's pretty healthy, so all the more reason to get the grill on and cook up this tasty salad.

Try these other salads using the grill:

• Grilled peach salad
• Israeli couscous salad with grilled vegetables
• Mexican street corn salad
• Plus get more summer recipes in the archives.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Grilled pork and pineapple salad

Don't just grill the meat, grill the whole salad!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2

Calories: 412kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

0.5x1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

For pork

• 0.75 lb pork tenderloin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon honey

For rest of salad

• 2 heads romaine lettuce
• 1 red pepper
• 8 stems asparagus
• 2 slices fresh pineapple around ⅓-1/2in/1cm thick
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• ½ tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon light oil vegetable or non-virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ minced chili pepper optional

Instructions

• Trim any excess fat and sinewy pieces from the outside of the pork loin.
• Mix together the thyme, allspice, cinnamon, lime juice and honey and rub all over the outside of the pork.
• Remove the outer leaves form the romaine (keep to use another time) and cut in half top to bottom through the stem. Remove the core and seeds from the pepper and cut into quarters. Snap the ends of the asparagus stalks. Lightly drizzle all with a little oil (only a small amount) and rub all over. Trim the skin from the pineapple.
• Grill the pork, romaine, pepper, asparagus and pineapple, turning each as required. The pork will talk around 20min to be cooked through, the rest will take a little less - you just want them all lightly browned. Watch the romaine as it will quickly go from uncooked to charred black if you are not careful.
• While everything is cooking, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, oil and mustard for the dressing, plus the chili if using.
• Once everything is cooked on the grill, remove from the heat and chop each into bite-sized pieces (the pineapple into around 8 pieces a slice, asparagus in half or thirds per stem, pepper in 4 to 6 pieces per quarter, pork and romaine sliced). Cut the pork last so it has time to rest a little.
• Layer up the salad with the romaine at the bottom, the vegetables and pineapple next then pork on top. Drizzle over the dressing. Can be eater warm straight after cooking or allowed to cool to room temperature. If eating cooler, it's probably best to wait until nearer when serving to pour over the dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 412kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 110mg | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 2340mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 56420IU | Vitamin C: 107.2mg | Calcium: 233mg | Iron: 8.6mg

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Try these other grilling recipes:

Savory grilling:

• Cilantro Lime Grilled Shrimp with Pineapple Salsa by Taste And See
• Grilled Avocado with Cilantro-Lime Cream by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Bourbon & Brown Sugar Marinated Grilled Steak by Books n’ Cooks
• Buffalo Wing Burger by Red Cottage Chronicles
• Chicken Mazatlan by Palatable Pastime
• Grilled Shrimp Corn Salad with Avocado Vinaigrette by Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Duck with a Red Wine Reduction by Monica’s Table
• Grilled Ribeye with Simple Spice Rub by Cooking Chat
• Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs by Moore or Less Cooking
• Grilled Tuna Steaks with Orange Tomato Sauce by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Easy Garlicky Grilled Polenta by She Loves Biscotti
• Grilled Asparagus with Lemon and Manchego Cheese by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Homemade Burger Sauce by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Homemade Coffee Steak Rub by Renee’s Kitchen Adventures

Grilled desserts:

• Grilled Banana Boats by Our Good Life
• Grilled Blueberry Cobbler by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Grilled Dessert Pizza by Baking Sense
• Grilled Pineapple with Vanilla Sorbet by The Chef Next Door

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