Every so often, I get a crazy craving for something rather particular. This past week, it was for sardine patties.
To go along with my diet, I decided to try and incorporate many healthy ingredients that would come together to form this dish, including....
- garlic
- onions
- lentils
- carrots
- great northern beans
- peas
- sardines
Here's how I did it....
Lentils and carrots cooked in one pan...
...as anchovy, onion and garlic sauteed with olive oil in the other.
Once the onions turned golden, I added peas and great northern beans and let cook for a bit...
...eventually adding in the cooked lentils and carrots.
This mixture would be the base to help hold everything together...
...so I pureed it.
But I wanted a punch of flavor...
...so I blanched thinly sliced bell pepper in juice from a jar of banana peppers...
...and then added it to the mixture, along with capers and fresh lemon juice.
Let me say right here that this mixture was DELICIOUS!!! I probably should have stopped here and just grabbed a spoon.
Even adding the sardines to this mixture and eating it out of the bowl would have been fine.
But, alas, I put the mixture in the fridge for the next day and continued with the recipe.
Originally, I put 3 cans of sardines in a bowl...
...but then I added more (6 cans total) because I knew my dad was interested in trying them.
Eggs were added for binding...
...and that got whisked together...
...along with the previous day's delicious mixture.
Here is where I ran into a problem.
My diet called for NO grains, breadcrumbs, flour, etc. but I needed something to thicken the mixture so that I could form the patties.
I thought, Well, I'll finely grind walnuts down to a flour...
...but I couldn't get them very fine without them turning into walnut butter.
So I caved in...
...adding corn flour...
...and then even adding some breadcrumbs.
On the plus side...
...they shaped easily, held their form...
...and cooked nicely (3-4 minutes a side in a little bit of almond oil).
But they were dense and not as flavorful as I would have liked.
Granted, the nuttiness of the walnuts made them hearty, but I wish I hadn't added so much filler to firm them up. I also wish I would have added more of the pickled peppers, the capers, many more anchovies (for their saltiness) and less of the sardines (which are rather mild).
I also wish I would have put a dollop of German mustard in the mixture (I simply forgot).
Fortunately, some things were easily remedied when I fixed up a portion for myself.
Between the walnuts and the sardines, you can only imagine the amount of Omega 3's that I'm consuming.
