I've heard again and again that it's a good idea to switch to the smaller fish that haven't been overfished, and which are also goldmines of healthy oils. I really love fish, so I decided to start eating more sardines.

I had a few cans of sardines in the cupboard, and I considered cooking them the way my Malaysian neighbor used to, in a spicy tamarind sauce, but I didn't think my 7 year old was quite ready for that. She's not big on hot/spicy foods...yet.

I also had a head of fennel in the fridge, so I decided to make Sicilian-style pasta con sarde. I'd always wanted to make it. I sauteed the fennel with olive oil and garlic, threw in some pine nuts, and then a can of San Marzano tomatoes, some raisins, basil, a splash of white wine, pepper flakes and the two tins of sardines, and let that simmer away for 30 minutes. When it was done, I stirred in a half-pound of cooked pasta. Green beans on the side tossed with fresh thyme.

Shorty grated some Asiago on hers; I sprinkled dried bread crumbs on mine for the authentic Sicilian topping. It was very, very good! An easy, relatively fast, delicious dinner that my kid will eat.

Next time I will add a few anchovies to enhance the sweet/salty/fishy contrasts.