While it may not look or sound like the most charming dish, this sardine spread means serious business when it comes to jaw-dropping deliciousness and an awesome number of healing fats, vitamins, and minerals.
Today, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to two GREAT things:
- Sardine Spread – we’ll talk more about this tasty healthful wonder in a bit.
- The Paleo Foodie Cookbook by Arsy Vartanian – the brilliant lady and book behind today’s recipe.
Let’s briefly catch you up to speed on why sardines have become such a hot topic in the world of healing, real foods:
- Sardines have a tremendous concentration of high-quality Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA, to be specific). Fish oil supplements for heart health ring a bell? While those pills are a good start to boost our intake of the essential fatty acid, they’re still a processed food. To get the highest quality, the highest concentration, and the perfect balance between other nutrients, your best bet is to go straight to the source – eat the fish.
- Aside from an awesome amount of the highest quality Omega-3’s, wild-caught sardines are a great source of Vitamin B12, selenium, Vitamin D, and protein.
- They’re delicious – I kid you not. Sprinkle with lemon juice, eat right out of the can (like me), or whip into a magically delicious spread like Arsy.
Arsy is the fabulous recipe developer and writer behind the blog Rubies & Radishes. In her first book, The Paleo Slow Cooker, she developed a fantastic group of recipes that are packed full of flavor which keep the time-constrained cook in mind. In her second book, The Paleo Foodie Cookbook, she put together an absolutely fabulous collection of gorgeous recipes all with exciting flavor profiles and straightforward preparation approaches. This is a perfect book for ANY foodie, Paleo or not, who loves fresh foods with sensational finishes.
The sweet and gracious Arsy not only let me share her Sardine Spread recipe right out of her new book but she also offered up a giveaway copy for one lucky Fed & Fit reader!
Where to find Arsy:
Blog – HERE
The Paleo Foodie Cookbook {new} – HERE
The Paleo Slow Cooker – HERE
Now let’s get to prepping this tasty fish spread!
Our recipe starts with the golden wonder, ghee. This is my favorite brand {which you can find HERE} but you can also make your own! To make ghee from home, simply heat butter on the stove until all the milk solids have risen to the top and are slightly foamy, skim off the top solids, then store! It’s delicious and because it’s more stable at higher temperatures, ghee is great for cooking.
Add 1 Tbl of ghee to a hot pan.
Chop up about half of one sweet onion.
Add it to the melted ghee.
Garlic time! This is my favorite time. Peel, smash, and mince the garlic.
When the onions are transparent and slightly browned …
Add the garlic! Cook the onions and the garlic together until they’re nicely fragrant.
The star of the show! This is my favorite brand. Find it HERE. It comes in all kinds of flavors but my favorites are the ones packed in olive oil or water.
Peel back the lid – look at those morsels of nutrition. Yum!
Drain the liquid out and add two cans to a food processor.
Cut one fresh medium-sized avocado in half.
Cube and scrape the innards into the food processor.
Add the zest of one lemon (about 1/2 tsp).
Then add the juice of that lemon (about 3 Tbl).
Pour in your sauteed onions and garlic.
Last step! Add ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper. Note that this amount of cayenne makes for a pretty spicy spread – use less if you’re sensitive.
Got it all in there?
Run the food processor a few times then scrape down the sides.
Turn the food processor back on and run until it’s smooth and lovely!
Spoon the spread into a bowl.
Serve with sliced cucumbers! (…or any other crunchy vegetable). This sardine spread is so great for a large gathering or just for your week’s snack.
Enjoy!
Sardine Spread
Ingredients
- 8- oz canned sardines drained
- 1 medium-sized avocado
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1/2 sweet onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
- Saute the ghee, onions, and garlic together until transparent and fragrant.
- In a food processor, add the sardines, avocado, lemon zest, lemon juice, sauteed onions and garlic, and cayenne. Pulse until smooth.
- Serve with fresh cucumber slices.
Nutrition
Coconut oil ..ah ya
I usually go for coconut oil or olive oil. And I must admit, I’ve never eaten sardines before, but keep the recipes coming, eventually I’ll cave and try them 🙂
I like Kerrygold, coconut oil or lard depending on the dish.
Coconut oil is my most used fat
Firstly I just want to say….yum….that recipe looks delish, I love Sardines….a little too much. thank you for the recipe and the awesome giveaway. My favorite cooking oil is coconut oil.
Coconut oil but I really want to give ghee a try:)
Coconut.
This sounds great. I have been trying to incorporate more sardines but so far have just been eating them on salads. I have also found wild caught sardines at Trader Joes ( their brand). The ones with the bones ( yay calcium!) only come packed in water but they are pretty good. They have skinless and bones less ones packed in olive oil as well.
Yum! I can’t wait to make this.
Lately, ghee. Coconut oil all time fav!
coconut oil
Ghee or coconut oil! So yummy!
oh my my what an amazing spread. i usually just have my sardines straight up! but i will try this for sure
Intriguing!
Thank you so much for this recipe! Hoping I will actually be able to stomach sardines this way 🙂