Banana and Pineapple Salad #CrazyIngredientChallenge

The ingredients for this month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge are bananas and onions.  I was really kind of stumped with these ingredients.  I did a google search which did not help me too much.  I did find out though, that evidently banana and onion juice are supposed to cleanse your chakras.  I don't know what that means and I really have no desire to investigate it any further but I did link to the site in case you are interested.

I also found a recipe for banana and onion soup that I thought sounded interesting but it was a little too suggestive of baby food for my liking.  I found that some curry recipes also include bananas and considered doing that as well.

Then I remembered a salad that I used to make for my kids when they were young.  It was simply iceberg lettuce, canned pineapple chunks, sliced bananas and a dressing made from the pineapple juice and miracle whip.  I haven't made it since they were toddlers and I never included onions but I thought I would rewrite this recipe to please my palate which is much pickier today than when I was a brand new wife and mother trying to survive on a shoestring budget.

I switched to Romaine lettuce and decided to add some red onion slices to the party.  I still wanted to use the pineapple juice in the dressing but wanted to include other flavors as well. 

When I went into the refrigerator for the Miracle Whip, I spied some Gourmet Garden Cilantro in a tube.  Perfect!  What is better with tropical flavors than cilantro? 

I lined a platter with the Romaine and then scattered the bananas, that I had tossed in a little lemon juice, over the top.  I followed this with some pineapple chunks and some thinly sliced red onion.  I only had a 15 oz can of pineapple chunks but you could certainly use fresh or just buy one of those little cans.  My husband made short business of the leftover pineapple and pineapple juice.

Drizzle the dressing over the top and you are ready to serve.  I think this salad was perfect because I have the tropics on my brain constantly.  Only 4 more days until my dive trip!!!  wooohoooooo......

Try serving this salad as a side with my Island Pork Tenderloin and Black Beans with Rice.  Add a Rum Punch  and a Pina Colada Trifle for dessert and you too, will feel as if you are visiting the Tropics.

Please take a look at what the others are sharing using Bananas and Onions.  You will find their links right underneath my recipe.

Tropical Salad

1 head Romaine Lettuce

1 banana, sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice

1/2 of a 15 oz. can Pineapple Chunks in it's juices

1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

1 c. Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise

1/4 c. juice from pineapple chunks

1 T. cilantro paste or fresh cilantro, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and dry lettuce leaves.  Tear into bite size pieces and place on a platter.  Distribute the banana, pineapple and onion over the lettuce.  

In a small bowl, combine the Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise with the pineapple juice and cilantro. Whisk together until smooth.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle some over the salad and serve the rest on the table for people to add to their salad as desired.  Print Recipe

Banana and Onion Creations

An InLinkz Link-up