About six months ago I started eating sardines, for the first time in my young (ish ;-)) life. I wasn't fed them as a child and they're certainly not appealing on face value so I was happy to keep them at arms length. Irrespective, there is little fish in my diet. I eat a piece of farmed salmon once a month and canned wild red Alaskan salmon every couple of weeks. I eat the farmed salmon purely to give me variety, not because of it's nutritional value (of which I believe there is little?) and because it is likely to have a lower mercury content than a lot of non-farmed, large fish. I wrote a post about my fish intake here, but if you've not got time to take a look at that I rarely eat fish because of it's mercury content and terrible trouble with heavy metals in my system.
Why then would I starting eating sardines you may ask? Well it's simple, and goes a bit like this: big fish eat smaller fish eat smaller fish eat smaller fish...got it?! On that basis, BIG fish have a high mercury content because of all the smaller fish they've consumed (I will not touch tuna as a result). Little fish, like sardines and anchovies have a lower mercury count and are therefore a healthier option for those of us needing to be extra special careful. And other sweeteners? Sardines are one of the highest sources of Omega-3, are an excellent source of B12, a rich source of Vitamin D and packed with protein. That'll do me!
It was during a visit to my local organic store Plump that I discovered the organic sardines and a recipe kindly shared over the counter by a very helpful staff member (not sure I've got it 100% right but it's pretty good regardless, if I don't mind saying so myself).
You don't have to have this on bread (gluten free or otherwise), but it's definitely a great combo and is pretty much the only time I eat this beautiful sprouted bread/toast (which is by 'Pure Life' by the way, you'll find it in the fridge of most health stores in Australia).
You'll need:
1 slice of toasted bread of choice
1/2 can organic sardines
Approximately 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
A good handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
A good handful of parsley, roughly chopped (note, I used rocket in this photo, had run out of parsley damn it)
1 spring onion, finely chopped
A heaped teaspoon (or two) of capers, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon harissa paste or a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional)
Salt & Pepper
Roughly mix the harissa through the sardines, not mushing them completely but enough so that the harissa assimilates. Mix through the remaining ingredients and tumble over a piece of toast. Grab a knife and fork, turn the TV off, put the newspaper away, and enjoy a mindful, relaxed and very easy lunchtime treat.
P.S if my friendly Plump recipe sharer has any tips/alterations to this recipe I'm all ears! Thank you for sharing!
