If you are like me, you love fresh pineapple, but might feel a bit daunted by the thought of cutting one up. I used to shy away from cutting them up, just opting to purchase already sliced and diced pineapple at extremely high prices.
But really, it is not that hard. I will show you my step-by-step process to this delicious and healthy snack.
Choose a pineapple by the smell. I usually smell the base (the most yellow end) and if I can detect a nice pineapple smell, I buy it. I know some people say that if you pull on the top and if the leaves? pull out easily, then it is ripe, but I have not always found that this equates a sweet pineapple. To me, the smell test is most reliable. Make sure there are no soft spots.
Using a sharp knife and a cutting board to protect your counter-top, cut off the base about 1/2 -1 inch up, and do the same for the top.
I attempted to "grow" the top but became bored with it and threw it out. Perhaps another time.
I usually stand the pineapple on its base and slice it down the center.
And then again slice the halves into quarters.
Now comes the time to slice off the hard inner core. Sometimes this is a bit tricky, but you can usually see that the core is a slightly different shade of yellow and is much firmer than the flesh. I do not always slice enough of the core off, leaving a hard, chewy spot on my chunks.
I halve the quarters now, so I end up with eight pieces (wedges?) of pineapple. They still have the outer prickly rind on, so that is the next thing to remove!
It is actually easier to lay the pieces flat, but for the photo I stood one up to show how to slice off the rind. You want to go about 1/2 inch in or more to get all of the seed spots off. Some extra trimming may be required. Discard the rind and core pieces.
Line up your pineapple wedges (disregard the piece in the front where I had a sample...I could not help myself!) so they are ready for cutting.
Slice off the "chunks" as uniformly as you can. It is not a contest! Be sure to sample a few, just to make certain they are edible.
Another angle....
Voila! Pineapple Chunks.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for one to two days (if they last that long!) You can also use them in fruit kebabs (with other fruits such as melon, grapes, kiwi, or whatever you like), or on pizza with some ham or Canadian bacon. I just like to nibble on them for a snack. Enjoy!
