Forshmak (Deconstructed Sardine Salad)

canned_sardines_lunch

I know a lot of you find paleo lunches a little challenging. You want something fast, easy, inexpensive and nutritious but there aren’t always many options around. I want to share this meal idea because it’s one of my frequent lunches and it ticks a lot of those boxes.

I hope that this way of eating canned sardines will inspire you to give them another go, even if you’ve been a non-sardine eater your whole life.

Let me introduce to my deconstructed salad (it’s always a different mix of vegetables, whatever I have on hand) with a canned sardines forshmak (I’ll explain), drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil and some sea salt. I almost always have some avocado and something green on the plate.

I have this kind of lunch at least once a week because it’s easy, fast and involves little cleaning up. It’s also one of those meals that you can easily transport in a lunch box or make in your office kitchen.

Now let’s chat about the sardines. I think they’re a bit like anchovies – you either love them or you hate them.

Most people like fresh sardines, grilled and seasoned with simple spices, lemon, parsley and so on. I had the best sardines in a coastal town of Biarritz in France, where sardines were so fresh and seasoned so perfectly, I thought I was eating a small snapper. It’s a completely different story with canned sardines, which have a stronger ‘fishier’ smell and flavour, and are often dismissed by fish snobs.

But, there is a way to enjoy canned sardines. You can experiment and find the best brand to suit your taste (I always go for the smaller sardines in olive oil or extra virgin olive oil, I avoid anything with soybean, canola etc), or you can disguise the otherwise fishy taste and smell with other yummy, strong flavours.

Sure, you could go for canned tuna or salmon instead but think about the nutritional value of sardines – they are very high in Vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium; one of the highest source of calcium outside of dairy; very high in Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and low to none mercury levels. Plus, they are highly sustainable, easy to find and cheap. Make friends with sardines and your body will thank you for it.

What Is Forshmak?

Forshmak is a Jewish dish of chopped and mashed herring with onion, apple, egg, mayonnaise and other seasonings. It’s very popular in Ukraine and Russia, so I thought I’ll try to do something similar with sardines. A combination of red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon and mayo works for me but you can experiment with different ingredients like capers, fennel, cucumber or olives, until you find what works for you. You can also use lemon and olive oil as a dressing instead of mayonnaise, or add a little tomato paste. One day, I will post a recipe for the actual forshmak as that’s also very tasty.

Want to Save This Recipe?

Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!

Save Recipe

By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cooked & Loved

Forshmak Deconstructed Sardines Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Author: Irena Macri
Servings: 1
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Ukrainian
Print Pin Save
5 from 1 vote
Calories: 525kcal
Let me introduce to my deconstructed salad (it’s always a different mix of vegetables, whatever I have on hand) with a canned sardines forshmak (I’ll explain), drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil and some sea salt.

Ingredients 

  • 100 g canned sardines look for a brand with extra virgin olive oil
  • 5-6 sun-dried tomatoes chopped
  • 1/4 red onion chopped finely
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise look for olive oil based or make your own of macadamia oil
  • Pinch of black pepper
  • Squeeze of lemon juice

For the salad

  • 1/4 red pepper capsicum, diced
  • 1/2 stick celery sliced
  • Handful of cherry tomatoes sliced
  • 1/2 avocado
  • Pinch of sea salt chili flakes
  • Drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil
  • Fresh parsley or other herbs

Instructions

  • Drain the sardines and mash with a fork, leaving the bones in. The bones contain most of the calcium and are small enough to eat.
  • Mix the mashed sardines with the onions, sun-dried tomatoes, mayonnaise, some lemon juice and black pepper. You can arrange everything around the sardines mixture on a plate or mix the salad in a bowl and serve the sardine forshmak mixture on top.

Nutrition

Calories: 525kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 440mg | Potassium: 1548mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1737IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 431mg | Iron: 5mg
Keywords: Lunch Ideas, salad recipes, Seafood, Canned Sardines
Tried this recipe?Mention @cookedandloved or tag #cookedandloved
sardines_forshmak_closeup

Make your own mayonnaise

Calcium-rich paleo foods

Irena Macri
By Irena Macri

About the author: Hi, I’m Irena Macri. I share delicious recipes that I have cooked and loved. I am a published cookbook author, have been food blogging for over 10 years and have a Diploma in Nutrition. You will find many healthy recipes as well as my favourite comfort food. More about me here | Subscribe to my newsletter and freebies

Comment or Rate This Recipe

Made the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. You don’t need to leave a comment if rating a recipe, unless it’s 3 stars or below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

14 Comments
  1. This was absolutely delish! I am impartial to sardines, but the addition of sun-dried tomato, red onion and mayo makes them super tasty:)
    My hubby loved it too. Makes a nice change from my usual tuna salad. Loving all your recipes! Keep em coming. Thank you….

  2. I will definitely try this one later. I am planning to experiment on a TUNA instead of sardines. We’ll see how it turns out. Thanks, Irena! =)

  3. Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long
    as I provide credit and sources back to your
    blog? My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my
    users would truly benefit from some of the
    information you provide here. Please let me know
    if this ok with you. Regards!

  4. I just had this for lunch today. Only thing different is added a couple small stalks celery and oh my what a tasty lunch it was. Thanks for giving me new ways to fix an old favorite…sardines!

    1. Good to know that combo works for others. I know sardines is not the most popular of foods but I think mixing it up with yummy flavours makes it much more edible 🙂

  5. Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot.
    I hope to present one thing back and help others like
    you helped me.

  6. This is very yummy and such a great lunch. I’ve made about 10-15 of your recipes now and have enjoyed them all. Thank you for posting them.

  7. Hi! I’ve been reading your web site for some time now and
    finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from
    Dallas Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the good
    work!

  8. When I originally commented I appear to have clicked thee -Notify me when new comments
    are added- checkbox and from now oon every time a comment is added I
    recieve 4 emails with thee exact same comment. There has to
    be an easy method you are able to remove me from that service?
    Many thanks!

    1. Hey there, Unfortunately I can’t remove your from receiving notifications myself. There should be some kind of link in the email notification that you receive about unsubscribing. Have a look and let me know if you find a way. I will research on my end as well.

  9. 5 stars
    At this moment I am going away to do my breakfast, later than having my breakfast coming yet again to read additional news.

See all comments »

You Might Also Like

904 Shares
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap