One thing I so much enjoyed when growing up and hunting quail with Daddy was lunchtime. After walking who knows how many miles across the hills of West Virginia that morning, we always took a break at lunchtime, found an old country store and loaded up on almost everything that was bad for you. Like Vienna Sausages. Each hunter would open a tin, manage to squeeze that first one out and then polished off the rest. That was out appetizer. Next, we may have slipped a bag of salted peanuts into an open Pepsi bottle for our lunchtime drink. When available, we asked the store owner to slice us off a wedge of rat cheese in a glass container. We always picked up a candy bar for dessert. My favorite was a Zero Bar with white fudge over caramel, peanut, and almond nougat. Yummm!
But the centerpiece of any outdoorsman’s lunch was a can of sardines. We used the key on top of the can to roll back the lid and tried hard not to slice off a finger as we dug inside to spear the oily fish and spread them on saltines.
Sardines hit the spot – and they still do. Recently I have been indulging in a few sardines for lunch, sometime on crackers and sometimes on a couple pieces of white bread as a sandwich. Not only do sardines taste good, they are really good for you.
Experts say that sardines are like a super-food. They are packed with nutrients that offer lots of Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin B-12 and calcium. All those nutrients promote muscle growth, reduce inflammation, and support cognitive growth. Best of all, they make you feel good. The dense combination of all those nutrients fuel the brain and body, leaving a feeling of overwhelming satisfaction. Some dieticians recommend eating sardines once or twice a week.
I enjoy plain old, Beach Cliff sardines packed in oil, but I also like sardines in mustard and Louisianna hot sauce. There may be no more quail to hunt, but there are still plenty of sardines to eat. Pass the saltines.
