Aloha Teriyaki Chicken Chi Chis!

Our friend Brian brought us a pineapple this weekend. I thought about grilling it, thought about throwing it in some yogurt, but adding bacon to it really couldn't be argued with. I cooked mine on our Traeger smoker grill. But this can be done on the BBQ on medium heat, or even in the oven.

The Bird:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 pineapple, sliced into small chunks
6 slices bacon, sliced into small pieces
2 slices Swiss cheese

Pepper

Garlic Salt
Ginger (ground)

The Sauce:
Part of pineapple/bacon mixture (I'll tell you more later!)
1/4 c teriyaki sauce
1 t garlic salt

1/4 t ginger (ground)
1 T honey

1 t extra virgin olive oil

What else:

Toothpicks ... you're going to need the toothpicks!

Chop up the half pineapple into small chunks

Do the same with the bacon

Throw the bacon in a pan, medium heat, cook for 5 mintues

Add the pineapple and cook another 5 minutes

You will use about half of this mixture inside your chicken and half for the sauce

 

Slice chicken breast along the side of the breast, we'll call it "hot dog bun style"

Scoop a few heaping spoonfuls of the mixture in the fold of the chicken

Fold the top half of the chicken over and toothpick it into place
Season the chicken with a light dusting of fresh cracked black pepper, ground ginger, and garlic salt

If using Traeger: preheat on medium setting

If using BBQ: preheat to medium
If using oven: preheat to 350 degrees

Throw that chicken on the grill!

In the meantime, your bacon/pineapple mixture should be coming along nicely on medium heat

Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, bring to simmer

Turn heat down to low-medium and let the flavors mix

A chicken breast is safe to eat at the internal tempreature of 170 degrees, some like to let it go to 180 degrees, so it's your call
Depending on your cooking method (Traegar, bbq, oven) and the size of your breasts (I know, it's a personal question!) your chicken could take anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes

I really recommend going by temp over minutes to get it right

When your chicken reaches 165 degrees, throw the slice of Swiss cheese on it and let it melt (my favorite part!)

Top with sauce and enjoy!

Healthy twist: Don't add the sauce! You can even skimp on the cheese, but I think it's a sin

I said enjoy right?