Summer Sardine Sandwich and a Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad

 

When it comes to wild-caught fish that sport those ever so famous fats that support brain, eye, and cardiovascular health, yes...they really could be the kings of fat when it comes to us humans...DHA and EPA as we have named them, sardines don't usually make the list of entree worthy fishies.  That's right, we usually think of sardines as the poor little guys who give their precious fat up to a little gelatin capsules that we can swallow in order to reap the benefits of the fabulous fats without having to really "eat" anything at all.  Anyway....I love tuna salad, but the more briny fishiness of sardines combined with some fresh garlic and red onion, the juice of a lime, and a little olive oil I thought would make for a sandwich spread that would have so much flavor when paired with some crustily toasty bread that I had to make it a reality.  That's when I woke up in the middle of the canned meat aisle at the grocery in a puddle of my own drool and realized that it was almost time for dinner.  OK, so I got to the house and mixed up 8 sardine fillets with a small clove of garlic, a quarter of a red onion chopped finely, I squirted some lime juice up in the mix and added some Dijon mustard and black pepper.  For just a tad of sweetness and extra flavor I added several tablespoons of pineapple juice and mixed it all up and threw it in the fridge for the flavors to come together.  

So in the meantime, seeing that it is pretty much summer...it's time to take some stuff to the grill.  I decided to blog an awesome roasted corn and bean salad.  This is a really easy little something to make that provides a load of veggies and complimentary amino acids with corn and black beans contributing their proteins to the mix.  So, I grilled some corn, tomatoes, and green pepper first.

To complete the roasted corn and black bean salad, I trimmed the corn off of the cobs and I peeled the tomato and pepper skins away from the meat of them both.  I gave a rough chop to the pepper and tomatoes and threw all of this in a bowl with two cans of black beans.  I'm usually a big fan of soaking beans for 24 hours and then cooking them on the stove, but guess what....tonight I bought two cans from the grocery.



  I chopped the rest of that red onion from before, threw it in the mix, and then drizzled a little olive oil over that with the juice of a lime, some salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder and tossed it all up and called it done.  So, I got my sardine spread out and gave it a taste - craziness - salty and sweet with the hints of raw garlic and onion throughout but balanced by the pineapple that came through subtly.  I just needed two crunchy slices of bread and some lettuce and mater to bring this intriguing little sandwich to life.  I'm glad I did, and I hope my brain, eyes, and little arteries are glad too for getting them lots of little DHA and EPA to feast on.  By the way, I used Udi's gluten free whole grain bread. 

Don't think you can do sardines?  I'm willing to bet this would be good with canned tuna or salmon also.