5NEWS Grill: Memorial Day Luau

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Add a little Hawaiian flare to your Memorial Day event with these great recipes.

Lil’ Kahuna Chicken Sliders
By King’s Hawaiian

Ingredients:
12 Kings Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls
12 pieces of marinated chicken thigh meat
12 oz Italian Dressing
3 tsp. dried oregano
3 tsp. dried basil
1 1/2 green bell peppers, cut to the size of the dinner rolls
1 1/2 red bell peppers, cut to the size of the dinner rolls
3 oz red onion, cut to the size of the dinner rolls
18 cherry tomatoes
pickle and olves to garnish, if desired
12 oz lilikoi aioli
Fresh pineapple top for presentation
Lilikoi Aioli
3/4 cup mayonnaise
6 TBSP. lilikoi (passion fruit) preserves
Whisk together mayonnaise and preserves until smooth.

Directions:
Combine Italian dressing, oregano and basil, divide.

Marinate chicken thighs with half of the dressing mix for several hours and vegetables with the remaining dressing for half an hour.

Grill chicken and vegetables until cooked through.

Arrange on a skewer, cherry tomato first, top of bread, onion, bell peppers, chicken, bottom of bread and a cherry tomato on the bottom to hold sandwich in place

Stick skewers into the pineapple top.
Serve with lilikoi aioli.

Tips for Cutting a Fresh Pineapple

To choose a Fresh Pineapple; look for fruits whose rinds are more
yellow than green, which signals thay they’re ripe and juicy inside.
When at their peek, they’ll also smell sweet around the base.

Using a large chefs knife, cut off the top of the pineapple, about 1/2
inch below the leafy top.

Then slice 1/2” off the bottom to remove the end of the core.

Set the pineapple upright, begin slicing downward to remove the
tough rind as well as any “eyes”. Use the curve of the pineapple as
a guide when slicing.

Trim off the flesh around the core: Slice, then turn the pineapple
clockwise 45 degrees; repeat three times.

You’ll end up with four large wedges of fruit and the tough core.
(Alternatively, for rings, slice the pineapple crosswise into 1/2” slices
and cores each with a 1 1/4” cookie cutter.)

Slice the large wedges into smaller wedge or pieces, depending on use.

Hawaiian Crunch Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups elbow macaroni
4 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
4 TBSP. soy sauce
2 TBSP. sugar
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained (save 4 TBSP. of juice)
2 TBSP. white vinegar
1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup frozen snow peas, thawed and sliced into bite-size piecs
2 TBSP. toasted flaked coconut

Directions:
Place water in a large saucepan.  Add salt and bring to a boil.
Add macaroni, and cook for 8 minutes, or until al dente. Drain.

Whisk together mayonnaise, soy sauce, sugar, pineapple juice, and
vinegar.  Pour over macaroni, and stir until well coated.

Fold in pineapple, peppers, onion and snow peas.

Spoon into serving dish, and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Serve chilled.