Recipes & Food Styling

Spicy Sardine Cakes with Southwest Tomato Rice

After life-long primary lymphedema and triple negative breast cancer, I love the incredible nutritional and anti-inflammatory benefits of sardines. The little guys are loaded with selenium and Vitamin D, which I found out I was low on shortly after my breast cancer diagnosis.

But, I’m not a fan of the taste or texture of the hearty little fish. I’ve tried all kinds of ways to love them. I doctored up these sardines with lots of spice, lemon and some of my favorite flavors like ground mustard, ginger, onion, garlic, and more. I included red pepper, cilantro and other ingredients with lots of color; and followed a Southwest theme with a side of Spanish rice with tomatoes.

Mission accomplished: Delicious! Here is how I made these:

Spicy Sardine Cakes with Southwest Tomato Rice

Makes 4-6 servings 

18 ounces of canned, boneless sardines in oil, rinsed well in cold water, (4 4.5-ounce cans)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 cup mayonnaise

Juice of 2 fresh lemons

2 tablespoons paprika

2 large eggs

1 large shallot, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground multi-colored peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt

4 cups extra virgin olive oil

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the  ingredients, and mix everything together thoroughly with your hands.

In a frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil.

Separate the sardine mixture into 10 balls of equal size. Using the palm of your hands, press each ball into a cake patty size.

Place the sardine cake patties in the oil. Cook on each side until they become golden brown, about 8-10 minutes on each side.

Place the sardine cake patties on papertowels to drain the oil.