Tomato Sardines with Quinoa recipe

Tomatoes and sardines balance well (or maybe it's that the tomato sauce covers up the taste), and also pair nicely with onion, carrots, peppers, and marjoram.

I was inspired by this Red Quinoa with Sardines recipe from The Food Site, but didn't have most of the ingredients — so I started basically from scratch.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 3 medium-sized carrots, diced
• 1/3 cup red, orange, and/or yellow sweet bell peppers, diced
• 1 15 oz. oval tin of sardines in tomato sauce
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup white wine
• dried marjoram

Recipe

1. heat the oil in a saute pan
2. cook onion & carrots until the onion begins to become transparent
3. add the peppers, cook for a bit
4. open the can of sardines & set aside the fish
5. add the tomato sauce from the sardine can to the pot
6. add the can of diced tomatoes to the pot, including all liquid
7. stir in 2-3 big pinches of marjoram
8. let it simmer for about a minute
9. add quinoa & wine, cover
10. reduce heat & simmer for about 15 minutes
11. meanwhile, break apart the sardines & mix with another couple of big pinches of marjoram
12. cook for another 5-10 minutes

The result was tasty, not too fishy, but a bit too rich for a stand-alone meal.  Next time I'll add more quinoa with some broth, or skip the quinoa entirely and serve it as a fishy sauce over pasta or rice — similar to a Bolognese.  Another variation could be to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, or skip them entirely.

Let us know what you come up with.

Check back later this week for Hope's kale & sardine pie — and we may found a source of fresh sardines up here, so we'll be experimenting with those soon too.