Recipe: Sardine Toasts with Pickled Onion, Capers and Dill

I love sardines!! I fell in love with them two times. First, when I learned how healthy they were and the second time when I finally found a brand that actually tasted good. Oh wait, and a third time when I found recipes that made them extra tasty!

This will be the first of many sardine recipes to come. I recommend people eat 3-4 cans of sardines a week. I much prefer eating fish than supplementing fish oil. I am not the biggest fan of the purified fish oils most people supplement (purified fish oil is less absorbable). Eating small fish like sardines is the way to go to meet one’s omega-3 needs.

Sardines are a very important part of the Modern Paleo Diet. Large and medium-sized fish today are contaminated with high levels of mercury. Small fish like sardines have very low levels of mercury and other toxins because they don’t live long enough to accumulate much. Sardines are my strategy to get my omega-3’s while avoiding the toxins in larger fish.

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about sardines in my article Sardines are the Safest Fish on the Planet.

Serves 4 | Prep time 15 minutes | Cooking time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 can of sardines in olive oil. My favorite brand is Conservas de Cambodas >
• 4 (1/2-inch) thick slices gluten free bread
• 1 ripe Hass avocado
• 4 sprigs dill
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1/2 onion
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• Coarse sea salt

Instructions

Step 1

Make your pickled onions a few hours or the night before making your sardine toasts. Thinly slice 1/2 an onion. Add the onion to a container with half water, half vinegar (any kind). Completely cover the onions with the mixture of water an vinegar, put a lid on the container and allow it to soak. This gives the onions a nice mild flavor.

Step 2

Drain the olive oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside.

Step 3

Turn on your oven to broil. Put a rack 3-inches from the broiler and heat the oven to the broiler setting on high. Brush each slice of bread on 1 side with the reserved olive oil or use fresh olive oil. Put the bread, oil side up, onto a cooling rack set inside a half sheet pan and broil 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp OR use a toaster to toast the bread.

Step 4

Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smash the flesh in each half with a fork OR slice the avocado.

Step 5

Spread the avocado evenly onto the toasted bread or lay the avocado slices on the toast. Add a layer of the pickled onions. Top evenly with the sardines. Drizzle the capers on top. Add the sprig of dill.

Step 6

Season lightly with sea salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges.