Grilled Pineapple with Lime Dip

Summer 2021. Post-pandemic. The world is opening. The bakery is recovering. The revenue in May was eight thousand nine hundred — the highest since pre-pandemic — and Sofia's projections show full recovery by September, which would make her recovery plan accurate to within two months, which for a fifteen-year-old's first post-pandemic recovery plan is astonishing accuracy, and I told her so, and she said: "It's math, Mamí. Math doesn't care about age."

Sofia got her driver's license. She is fifteen — legal driving age in Texas with a learner's permit and a parent present, but Sofia has been driving (illegally, minimally, Lower-Valley-ly) to the bakery since she was thirteen, and the license is merely the government catching up to the reality. She drives the van now — the Panadería Rosa van, the bread-scented delivery vehicle — and the sight of my fifteen-year-old daughter driving my bakery van to the farmers' market at 5 AM is the image of the future arriving in the present, and the future drives a van.

Diego is spending the summer on a project: designing the Anapra bakery. Not the dream version. The real version. He asked me for the dimensions of the building that Alejandro photographed, and I asked Eduardo (who still checks on the house) to measure it, and Eduardo measured it (thirty feet by twenty feet, a rectangle), and Diego has been designing the layout on his computer using free architecture software. He has a floor plan. A kitchen layout. A seating area. An equipment list. He is twelve (thirteen in July) and he has designed a commercial bakery from his bedroom, and the bakery exists on his screen the way it exists in my heart — fully formed, detailed, waiting to be built.

I made ceviche for the summer return — the annual shrimp and mango ceviche that signals summer the way champurrado signals winter. The ceviche is the clock of the kitchen: when the ceviche appears, summer has arrived, and summer means heat and elotes and carne asada and the particular joy of eating cold food when the world is hot. Concha the dog sat under the table during the ceviche dinner and waited for shrimp to fall, and no shrimp fell, because we are not the kind of family that drops shrimp, and Concha learned this lesson and went to sleep, which is what dogs do when the learning is disappointing.

The ceviche is the clock of our summer kitchen — when it appears, the season has officially arrived — but it’s never the only cold, bright, citrus-forward thing I make in those first warm weeks. This grilled pineapple with lime dip has become its companion: the dessert that closes the same meal, the sweet answer to the ceviche’s salt and acid. Sofia drove the van. Diego drew the bakery. The world opened again. And on a hot El Paso evening with Concha asleep under the table, we needed something that tasted exactly like summer arriving on purpose.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch spears or rings
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 cup sour cream
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Instructions

Make the lime dip. Beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth. Add the lime juice, lime zest, and sour cream and mix until creamy and well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Prep the pineapple. Whisk together the honey, olive oil, cinnamon, and cayenne (if using) in a small bowl. Brush the mixture evenly over all sides of the pineapple spears.
Grill the pineapple. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the pineapple pieces for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until caramelized grill marks form and the fruit is lightly charred and fragrant.
Rest and plate. Remove from the grill and let rest for 2 minutes. Arrange on a platter alongside the chilled lime dip.
Garnish and serve. Scatter fresh mint leaves over the pineapple. Serve immediately while the fruit is warm and the dip is cold.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Pineapple with Lime Dip — The Summer Clock Has Arrived