Something had to change, and unfortunately I had no control to change my increasingly stressful job, so I decided to carve out time to make myself legitimate dinners. Quick dinners, but fresh and delicious.
I began flipping through my cookbooks, making a note of the dishes that took less than 30 minutes, had a manageable list of ingredients, and would give me some leftovers to take to work. I found quite a few!!
There was one in particular that intrigued me: Spaghetti with Sardines, Dill and Fried Capers. I love dill and I love capers, but I was not sure how to feel about the sardines. I did not think I was fond of them but could not remember actually having had them! Is it possible that I had never had sardines? This had to change. So although this recipe seemed questionable to my taste buds, it satisfied my time proviso and engaged my curiosity.
When I first opened the can of sardines I was disgusted. I am not a picky eater by any means, but fingering those slimy headless bodies out of the can made me reconsider my recipe choice. Forfeiting my sardine challenge was not an option. I soldiered on.
I put a bit more chopped dill, capers, and bread crumbs into the recipe, hoping to take some prominence away from my fishy foes being sauteed in the skillet. Fifteen minutes after I cracked open those sardines, I was sitting at the table about to taste my creation.
Looking down at my plate, here is what I saw:
Notice how hefty those bread crumbs are? See how much dill I added? In those ways I compromised slightly, but trust me, the fish was in there and my entire kitchen smelled of sardines.I took and bite and...hmm... another bite...and...by golly I liked it!! Cleaned my plate, in fact! The only problem was the next day at work when I unveiled my leftovers and the entire room filled with the fragrance of sardines. Lesson learned (sorry, co-workers!).
Sardines. Check.
