Chili-Lime Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa – Terrific Grilled Taco Series

When it comes to tacos, the more the better!  From street to gourmet, authentic Mexican to fusion; tacos are a favorite dish all over the globe and the Terrific Grilled Taco Series from Summerset is bringing these right to your grill.  Next up is Chili-Lime Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa featuring a wonderful chili lime rub, a sweet and spicy salsa, and fresh avocado crema.  A beautiful layering of flavors and textures, these tacos burst into savory music with each bite.

Begin by rubbing the chicken with the chile-lime rub, which features chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin, other spices, brown sugar, lime juice, and lime zest.  For maximum flavor, keep the rubbed chicken refrigerated overnight so the spices and citrus fully infuse into the chicken.  The pineapple salsa begins by grilling the pineapple, red onion, bell peppers, and jalapenos on the grill until lightly charred, slicing, and combining with cilantro, lime juice, ginger, cumin, salt, and pepper.  The finishing touch is the fresh avocado crema that is both light and creamy.  Blend avocados, sour cream, mayo, lime juice, salt, cumin, and garlic powder until smooth and divine and keep refrigerated till serving.  For serving, let the layering begin – warmed tortilla, chile-lime chicken, grilled pineapple salsa, avocado crema, and a big bright grin as your hand your guests their work of art - this is the Terrific Grilled Taco Series.

Serves 4

Chili-Lime Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of chicken breasts pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
  • 8 flour tortillas or 6-8 corn tortillas
  • 1 cup favorite cheese, more or less

Chili-Lime Rub

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½-1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (optional for more heat)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1½ teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 teaspoon brown sugar
  • fresh-squeezed lime juice from 2 limes (about 4 tablespoons)
  • Lime zest from 2 limes

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

  • 1 ripe pineapple, trimmed and sliced
  • 2 large red bell peppers, seeded and quartered
  • 1 small red onion, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 2 whole jalapenos
  • 1 cup loosely packed cilantro, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil

Avocado Crema

  • 2 medium avocado
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 4 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Chili-Lime Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa Directions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk chicken rub ingredients together and rub evenly all over chicken breasts. Timer permitting, allow the chicken to sit for 30 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate up to 8 hours then bring to room temperature for before cooking.*
  2. If the chicken has been refrigerated, let sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes (time permitting).
  3. Meanwhile, grease and preheat the grill to medium heat, 375-450°F.
  4. Grill chicken undisturbed for 5-7 minutes per side, or until chicken is cooked through. (An inserted thermometer should read 165 degrees F.)
  5. Remove chicken from grill and let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
  6. To assemble, warm the tortillas on the grill. Once flipped, melt cheese on tortillas, and then top with the Chili-Lime Chicken, Pineapple Salsa, and Avocado Crema.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

  1. Grease grill and heat to medium-high heat.
  2. Drizzle red onions with olive oil and thread onto a skewer (if using a wooden skewer, soak skewer in water for at least 30 minutes beforehand). Drizzle red bell pepper quarters and jalapeno with olive oil to lightly coat.
  3. Working in batches as needed depending on grill size, grill pineapple and vegetables at medium-high heat until tender and lightly charred all over, about 12 minutes for the onions, turning occasionally, about 8-10 minutes for the pineapple, or until caramelized, flipping once, 6 minutes for the red bell peppers, flipping once, and jalapeno for 3-5 minutes, turning occasionally.
  4. Once cool enough to handle, dab off any excess oil with paper towels from vegetables and chop pineapple (cutting around the core), red bell peppers, and onions. Devein and deseed jalapeno and dice, reserving some of the seeds if desired.
  5. Toss pineapple, red bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, ginger, cumin, salt, and pepper to taste in a large bowl. If you would like it spicier, add some of the jalapeno seeds to taste.
  6. Can be served immediately or even better chilled.

Avocado Crema

  1. To make the Avocado Crema, add all the Crema ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth, scraping sides down as needed. May make 4 hours ahead of time and refrigerate in an airtight container.

Taken from carlsbadcravings.com
https://carlsbadcravings.com/chili-lime-chicken-tacos-with-grilled-pineapple-salsa/