Calcium, Vitamin D & Omega 3s Oh-MY!

As soon as you mention the word sardines people tend to turn up their noses to it, saying YUCK! But why? Have you ever really tried them? I get it, I get it…the smell right? But wouldn’t you smell a little more intensely after being cooped up in a can? But what if I gave you a recipe that you can follow to get them to be tasty? Would you try? Maybe one bite?
Why am I trying to convince you to have sardines? Because they are packed, I mean packed full of nutrients!! Okay, let’s start from the beginning. What are sardines? They are baby herrings that swim in the salt waters of North America. The can grow to be 17 inches long and can live up to 20 years!! There are actually 21 different kinds of fish that can be called “sardine”. You can find them at most grocery stores in the canned fish aisle in many different flavours; most common in oil, water, mustard, tomato sauce and chili peppers.
They are excellent sources of vitamin B12, calcium, protein and omega 3s. They are also rich in phosphorus, B2 and potassium and even have some iron and selenium. Now you might wonder if they are high in mercury, but they are not. They are low in the food chain and so they have much less mercury than other fish.
So how do you get over the taste? By making them into some tasty bites! Check out the simple recipe below for an option.  This recipe has been adapted from https://champagne-tastes.com to make it gluten free and low FODMAP.
Ingredients
2 tins sardines packed in chili and oil, reserve the oil
½ cup plain yogurt (I used the Greek yogurt I had)
½ cup gluten free breadcrumbs or ½ cup ground GF oats
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
½-1 tsp black pepper
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
1 egg
 
Instructions
1 – Remove sardines from tin, reserving oil and place the fish in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients along with the oil (should be about 2 TBSP).
2 – Gently mix the ingredients with a fork. Do not overmix.
3 – Use a 1 TBSP spoon and scoop 2 TBSP worth into your pal and roll into balls and flatten into 4 inch patties.
4 – Set patties onto a rimmed baking sheet. (There will be oil seeping out therefore ensure that the sheet/dish can catch the oil.
5 – Refrigerate the patties for about ½ hour.
6 – Move the oven rack to the top 3rd of the oven. Broil 5 minutes, flip and broil 3-5 minutes more, until the fish cake are dark and golden.
7 – Remove the cakes from pan (and residual oil) immediately. Serve while still hot and pair with either a nice spicy yogurt or mayo dip or some tartar sauce. YUM