Roasted Pineapple Salsa

This salsa is really good. Especially on carnitas tacos. But what I've been totally obsessed with ever since I went grocery shopping is the fact that the store only had gigantic containers of habaneros. I mean truly enormous (I'm guessing about 50 habaneros in each). And I wasn't at Costco (or similar warehouse type store). Those peppers are damn hot. Who the hell is using that volume of habaneros at home? I actually asked that out loud in front of two produce guys (it's not as bad as it sounds, my husband was standing nearby). One of the guys echoed my sentiment back to me. The other one said I'd be surprised how many people make large quantities of salsa at home. I didn't even know what to say to that. So I just stuck a few jalapeños in the cart. But I can't get it out of my head for some reason. Like I want to stakeout the produce department and catch someone actually buying these habaneros and find out what their plan is. When I'm feeling fairly normal, it's stuff like this that reminds me that I'm slightly mental. Of course I haven't actually been on a stakeout yet, so there's still hope. 

ROASTED PINEAPPLE SALSA

Makes 2 1/2 cups

4 (1/2-inch-thick) round slices fresh pineapple (1/2 pineapple)

1/4 cup mild olive oil or vegetable oil

1 medium red onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste

2 fresh habanero chiles, minced, including seeds

1/2 teaspoon fine salt, or 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1.      Set the oven to broil (alternatively, you can preheat the oven to 500° F) and preheat, or heat a lightly oiled grill pan over medium heat. If you're using the oven broiler, position the rack 8 inches from the heat source.

2.      Brush the pineapple slices with some of the oil and roast or grill them until they're browned on both sides and tender, 5 to 6 minutes a side on the grill pan, or 8 minutes a side under the broiler. Let them cool to room temperature.

3.      Dice the pineapple (about 1/8 inch), discarding the core, and mix it in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Season to taste with additional lime juice and salt. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to one day.

from Epicurious, April 2011 (from Truly Mexican by Roberto Santibañez with JJ Goode)

pineapple

I used my apple corer to core the pineapple.
Then I realized it wasn't necessary because I was just
going to chop them up later and cut around the core.

pineapple rings

roasted pineapple rings

I used the broiler. I was going to grill them,
but it was raining and didn't seem worth it.

cilantro

pouring lime juice over chopped pineapple, red onion,
cilantro and the aforementioned habanero substitute 

roasted pineapple salsa

.