This started out as a filling to stuff inside bok choy leaves. I chopped up the white parts of the leaves, grilled some pineapple and marinated chicken and threw in a fresh mango.
Then the problems started.
First off there was way too much filling for the amount of leaves. Leftovers are never a big problem so I soldiered on. Then the part of the leaves I planned to use as wrappers didn’t roll up very well when raw. To fix this I parboiled them for a couple seconds. Now they worked perfectly as a wrapper but had lost all the crunchiness and flavor I wanted. Still I soldiered on. Finally I tried one and although the filling was tasty, the leaves were just a soggy mess, and neither part worked well together.
What to do?
Luckily I had a bag of tostada shells and with some alterations to the filling and the help of an avocado, dinner was rescued from the abyss. Viva El Mexico.
Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Tostadas
- 1 large chicken breast skinned and deboned
- 1 lime
- 1 lemon
- 1 oz tequila
- 3 slices pineapple 1″ thick skin still on
- 1 mango cut into small dice
- 2 large bok choy leaves shredded
- 1 jalapeno diced
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 avocado sliced thin
- Tostada shells
- Salt/pepper
Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a deep dish place chicken, zest of the lemon and it’s juice and tequila. Drizzle a little olive oil over the chicken and marinate, turning every 30 minutes, for 2 hours. Prepare a barbecue grill and cook chicken and pineapple slices until done. In a large bowl mix mango, onion, jalapeno, and bok choy. When cool enough to touch chop chicken and pineapple into small dice. Make sure to skin and core the pineapple first. Add to bowl and season with cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper. On a plate place 1 tostada shells. Arrange sliced avocado and cover with another shell. Pile on chicken filling and sprinkle with a little hot sauce.
Tostadas are a nice crunchy change from tortillas and you can do so many similar things with them. I like the different flavours, textures and temperatures in this dish from the mixture of ingredients.
I will definitely be trying this ! It sounds delicious !
Great mix of flavours – I see the tequila managed to squeeze in to guarantee true Mexican authenticity.
Great save! Wonder if I could convince anyone else in the house to share it with me?
Excellente! I want to sink my teeth into those crispy tostada shells.
Great save! Loved the way you faced all the curve balls and scored at the end! (I wish we had many grad students who could perform the same type of magic… 🙂
These flavours are definitely more to my tastes so I actually prefer this recipe. And I love the soft, creamy avocado against the crunchy tostadas. This would also make a lovely hors d’œuvres for cocktail hour.
Big props for your resourcefulness – looks muy bueno!
It looks great.
A simple, delicious dinner! Great combination of flavors and textures and color!
This sounds like a great meal for spring and summer!
Yes, I can truly say I am IN LOVE.. with this dish :). I can actually have time to make this next week
What a save! I would have given up and grabbed a bowl after the bok choy leaves failed. Your solution was so much better.
Experimenting in the kitchen is such FUN! 😀
I love mangoes! Brings great color to the dish mmmm!
This is a must make! I love all the flavors together and it looks refreshing!
What a great save…sounds perfect to me.
You can be a food doctor, nice one
I think the crunch here is great! Fantastic ‘save’ 🙂
lol! Mexico can always save the day with some sort of corn or tortillas type product plus some spicy sauce!