grilled bone-in chicken thighs topped with a fresh pineapple, cucumber, radish, and mint salsa

Summer cooking is where the elimination phase can feel loneliest, standing at someone else's barbecue with a cooler bag of your own food. This dish doesn't taste like a limitation. Crisp-skinned chicken thighs off the grill, then a cold, bright salsa of pineapple, cucumber, radish, and mint spooned over the top, is a plate you would pick even with every other option in front of you.

The pineapple's manganese plays a part in some of the body's routine repair enzymes, and the cucumber and radish keep it cool and crisp against the warm meat. Nothing about this plate reads as careful or restricted. It just reads as good food.

Source the chicken thighs from a bird raised well, and use the whole cut, skin, bone and all, since real flavor and real nourishment both live there. Pile the salsa high so the colors stay distinct, and let the plate carry the kind of color and care you'd bring to any dinner worth having.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

For the salsa:

• 1/2 large pineapple, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 bunch radishes, tops removed and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 medium cucumber, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 bunch green onions, root and top ends removed and finely chopped
• 1 oz fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

This recipe is Core AIP and elimination-compliant as written. There are no nightshades, peppers, or tomato anywhere in it, so no swaps were needed. The ginger powder and garlic powder are ground vegetables rather than seed-spices, so they stay.

Method

Pat the chicken thighs dry and season them all over with the sea salt, ginger powder, and garlic powder. Let them sit while you heat the grill to medium.

Grill the thighs skin-side down first to crisp the skin, then turn and continue cooking until they are cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 F and the juices run clear. Move them to a platter to rest.

While the chicken cooks, make the salsa. Combine the pineapple, radishes, cucumber, avocado, green onions, and mint in a bowl. Add the minced garlic, sea salt, ginger powder, and the juice of half a lemon, then fold everything together gently so the avocado holds its shape. Taste and adjust the salt and lemon.

Spoon the salsa generously over the warm chicken thighs and serve.

Oven variation

If you do not have a grill, roast the seasoned thighs in a hot oven, skin-side up, until the skin is crisp and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F. Make the salsa the same way and spoon it over at the table.

Air fryer variation

Arrange the seasoned thighs skin-side up in the air fryer basket in a single layer, working in batches if needed so they are not crowded. Cook until the skin is crisp and the chicken reaches 165 F, turning or rearranging once partway through. The exact time and temperature are untested for this dish and should be confirmed in your kitchen.

*Adapted from autoimmunewellness.com*