Openface sardine sandwich / other uses for sardines?

[steorra]

I have discovered that I like this simple openface sardine sandwich moderately well.

Ingredients
2 slices of bread
1 tin of sardines packed in olive oil
A little lemon juice

Instructions
Toast two slices of bread.
Open tin of sardines, remove sardines with fork and put them on the toast.
Split sardines down the middle so they're closer to flat, and arrange them on the slices of toast.
Put a little lemon juice in a spoon (so as not to accidentally pour too much onto the food) and drizzle it over the sardines.

I don't love it, but I like it well enough that it's a convenient quick meal, especially when trying to avoid dairy and non-fish meat.

Any other suggestions for quick and simple things that can be done with sardines, or minimal-effort ways this simple sandwich could be varied?

Comments

[zats_clear]

I smash the little buggers in a bowl with a little mustard, fancy not yellow, and eat it on crackers

[wetdryvac]

Ditto, but with garlic, chives, and mayo in place of mustard. Fresh basil's pretty nice too.

[weaverbird]

My Dad ate them with blackberry jam, on crackers. Sounds utterly bizarre (not to mention inedible), doesn't it? He tricked me into tasting one, once upon a time, and it really wasn't bad! Go figure.

[rydra_wong]

For sardines tinned in olive oil, as in your recipe:

Mash them in a bowl (with a bit of black pepper and/or a squeeze of lemon juice if you want, but it works fine without them).

Then dump them over wholewheat pasta (IMHO the sturdier flavour/texture works better with sardines).

Looks greyish and unpleasant, but tastes lovely and is one of my quick comfort foods.

[steorra]

Do you include the olive oil from the tin in what you're mashing up? Or just the fish?

[rydra_wong]

Yup, olive oil too.

[pauamma]

Grill them.

[steorra]

How do you do that?

[pauamma]

Since you said they're packed in olive oil, I'd just use a variant of http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/04/19/grilled-sardines-charred-lemon-chiles, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Fresh-Sardines-with-Fennel-and-Preserved-Lemon-238421, http://www.wholeliving.com/130379/grilled-sardines-over-wilted-baby-arugula, http://www.ivillage.com/simple-grilled-sardines/3-r-64525, http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/grilled-sardines. (Last 2 are plain grilled seasoned sardines, others are fancier, with veggies and garnish.)

If you feel in an adventurous mood, you can wrap the seasoned sardines in aluminum foil and use dry pine needles to grill them, but that's better done in a cooking pit on a windless day, with a garden hose standing by, as this can cause pine needle embers {which are very light) to disperse otherwise.

The Frugal Gourmet said:

[yarngeek]

I mix them with more olive oil, mayo, oregano, and chopped pickles or capers to make a sauce for pasta or rice. Quick, easy, and minimal cooking, especially if you use a rice cooker.

You can also swap in cilantro (instead of oregano) and walnuts.