No heat. No pan. Nothing that could reasonably be called a technique. This is the lunch we make more often than any other, and it is genuinely the one we would put in front of somebody whose opinion we cared about.
A tin of sardines in the middle of a plate, and everything green in the fridge arranged around it. That is the recipe. The rest of this is just us explaining why it works, because it should not work as well as it does.
What goes on it
Serves one properly, or two if you are being polite about it.
- 1 tin of sardine fillets in olive oil. We used Berthe, and the tin is so handsome it stays on the plate
- Half a ripe avocado
- A large handful of rocket
- Half a cucumber, sliced into thick rounds
- Half a green pepper, sliced into rings
- A handful of Castelvetrano olives, the bright green buttery ones, worth seeking out
- A few sprigs of dill and flat parsley, left whole
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- Good olive oil, flaky salt, black pepper
Assembly
- Open the tin and put it, still full, in the middle of a large white plate. Do not tip the fish out. The tin is the centrepiece and the oil stays where it is useful.
- Halve the avocado, leave it in its skin, and set it beside the tin. Nothing needs scooping.
- Arrange everything else around in loose groups rather than mixing. Rocket on one side, cucumber and pepper on another, olives clustered, herbs draped over the top.
- Olive oil over the vegetables and a little into the avocado hollow. Flaky salt over everything, generously. Pepper.
- Lime wedges on the side. Squeeze as you go, not all at once.
- Eat with your hands and a fork, in whatever combination you fancy, straight from the plate.
Why it works
Because it is a structure, not a salad. Nothing is dressed and tossed into submission. Every element stays itself, so every bite is a decision: fish and cucumber, fish and avocado, olive on its own because you deserve it. That is a more interesting way to eat than a bowl of things already combined for you.
Because the fish is rich and everything else is not. A sardine fillet in oil is a big, savoury, fatty mouthful. Cucumber is water and crunch. Rocket is bitter. Lime is sharp. Every green thing on that plate is there to reset your mouth so the next bite of fish lands as hard as the first.
Because lime, not lemon. Lemon is the obvious move and it is slightly too polite. Lime is sharper and a bit more floral and it cuts the oil more cleanly. We were sceptical too.
Because it looks like you tried. It takes four minutes and it photographs like a restaurant. We are not going to pretend that is irrelevant. Eating well when you are alone is mostly a question of whether you could be bothered to put it on a nice plate, and a plate like this makes the effort essentially free.
Variations
Swap the sardines for mackerel fillets if you want something meatier, or anchovies if you want something that shouts, though with anchovies, go easy on the salt.
Add a boiled egg, jammy in the middle, if it needs to be more of a dinner.
Add a thick slice of toasted sourdough if it needs to be more of an event.
The one thing we would not do is dress it like a salad. The moment everything is coated in the same vinaigrette, the plate stops having edges, and the edges are the point.
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