Sardines and sliced (or chopped) onions with mayo on white bread!
My mother used to eat them and I got hooked as a kid. Eat 'em out
of the can unless you're in a fancy mood. And, try the REALLY
cheap ones like the Alshark (Moroccan) brand... about 79 - 99 cents at stores like Kalustyans here in NYC. They have 'em in either spicy
tomato & olive oil or regular olive oil...
i love sardines right out of the can. i eat one can everyday and i savor it.
delicately picking out the bone and eating bite by slow bite... i practically lick the can.
i've discovered that in order to get good sardines you've got to pay for them. the cheap ones have more of a fishiness that i don't like. i buy norwegian brislings. mediterranean style is my favorite. i've discovered that everyday i actually feel better after i eat them. they really help me stay alert for the rest of the day. i felt an instance high after the first time i ate them, so i've been hooked every since.
i've tried doing recipes and mixing them in salads but honestly, i love em plain and that's how i only eat them from now on.
guess what I make a living out of them. I do product development for a certain brand in asia. But eversince I started working on it, I stopped eating them at home. C'mon give me a break, they're everywhere at work. =) I want to eat something else. lol.
I'm not sure if you're familiar with fried sardines but they're great on toasts and on rice as well. One can eat it right off the can or bottle (yes, there are bottled sardines). But for the tomoto sauce based sardines, I'd rather heat them first and add some lemon or a bit of soy sauce.
I, too eat them out of a can. I prefer the ones packed in mustard sauce, as the mustard hides a bit of the fishy taste, but also buy the water-packed and add my own mustard. I just smash a few onto wheat bread or a bagel. Eating them on bread also makes them more palatable for me. Eating them with hard-boiled eggs sounds like a good idea, too...
As suggested above, buy sardines packed in water. Drain well, mash and spritz with balsamic vinegar and malt vinegar to taste, add a scant amount of mayonnaise, if you like a creamy spread or omit. Fold in a tablespoon of chopped, drained and rinsed, capers and season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Spread on hot, buttered rye toast. This sandwich is quite palatable, even delicious. This is a variant of the French Canadian "sardines on toast.
The sardines won't be oily, 'fishy'. Buy the cheap brand of sardines in spring water and visit a dollar or discount store to buy capers. The ones from Spain seem the cheapest. I think this sardine approach is good on all counts. Do try to enjoy....
Try getting a tin of the smaller sized variety and using them instead of anchovies in a puttanesca sauce. I cut them in half lengthwise rather than chop them.
If you ever have a chance to try Venetian sarde in saor, do it!
I just ate my first can of sardines. These were packed in water. Quite tasty. I ate them plain right out of the can with a little pepper on top. Thanks for the sardine tips. They are an excellent source of protein.
re: sardines and rice -- yes! must be cos i'm half filipina? salad of choice to accompany is red onion/juice ripe tomatoes/coriander and a sharp vinaigrette.
my parents retired to live in st jean de luz and every time i visit them i stock up on their sardines from this WONDERFUL shop: http://www.labelleiloise.fr/
in fact, my ma sent me a dozen tins for my birthday!
the other way i like tinned sardines is in on toast with plenty of mayo and sliced tomatoes.
if i get fresh i make them in escabeche OR grilled -- too too yum.
Try Sultan brand sardines in chili oil from Morroco. Yellow box. They are great and would probably go well with pasta and just use the oil on the pasta as well. Maybe add some capers, green onions or how about some lightly sauteed kale........? And how about some toasted old baguette just smashed up in there?
I can eat them out of can, but that's me. Here's a good way to tart them up:
http://badhomecooking.typepad.com/bad_home_cooking/2007/04/how_to_avoid_br.html
Which I did at Pessach last year.
Good luck. And don't overthink what you can or can not eat whilst pregnant. I craved tekka maki (tuna roll sushi) when I was pregnant with my first....ate it all the time, in defiance of the Parenting Police. The now 11-year-old is tall, smart and healthy. And loves sushi.
@eatWashington: Not to endorse the evil WTO, but you grandfather would have prevailed today with a sardine labeling case, as bristling (sprattus sprattus) is now considered one of twenty-one fish species that are permitted to be labled and sold as a "sardine" per the WTO Codex Alimentarius.
Um, Peru won a huge sardine labeling case a few years ago. I learned about the current regulations then.
Yay for all sardines!
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