Olá! Tudo bem! My name is Carole and I’m a new PhooDie!

I seldom cook on weekdays. After working in the institute, I head straight to the gym. Then, by the time I get home, I’d be too tired and too hungry to cook. BUT, I have to make sure that I eat the right amount of proteins and vegetables during dinner and in my packed lunches. My solution: cook freezable food. I would cook a big batch of two or more dishes in the weekends, freeze them, and just reheat them when I need them. The more delicious they become when frozen (just like adobo), the better.

Here’s one of my favorite recipes (from my healthy recipe source, prevention.com):

Island Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

  • 1 can (225 g) unsweetened pineapple (crushed) with juice
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp lime juice (lemon works just fine too)
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 4 chicken breast halves, skinned and boned
  • 1/2 cup onions, diced
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I usually use 2-3 tbsp of honey instead of sugar)
  • 1 tsp minced jalapeno (or piri piri)
  • 1 tsp cilantro, minced
  1. Strain the pineapple, set aside the juice and refrigerate the pineapples.
  2. Mix the pinapple juice, soy sauce, honey, garlic and red pepper flakes. Use this to marinade the chicken for at least 4 hours.
  3. When the marinade is ready, cook the chicken in the marinade until the juices run out when you puncture it with a fork or a knife.
  4. Take out the chicken and transfer the marinade to a saucepan. Reduce it until it has a saucy texture.
  5. For the salsa, mix the reserved pineapples, onions, brown sugar (or honey, in my case), lime juice, jalapeno and cilantro.
  6. On a dish, pour the sauce over the chicken and top it with the salsa.
This dish freezes quite well. If the salsa and chicken are frozen separately, they can last up to 2 weeks. It’s also like adobo, it tastes better when eaten after refrigerating/freezing.
Here’s a photo of the chicken after cooking. I didn’t make the salsa because I ran out of onions.
I love eating this dish with rice or potatoes and some veggies. Here’s how it looked like in my lunchbox today:

In Today's Lunchbox: Island Chicken with Baked Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli

It was the right lunch for a picnic in the gardens of Gulbenkian. :)