Cucumber Sardine Boats

Happy over-the-hump of the heat wave! Earlier this week I looks at the temps, and seeing all those hot red sun images on the 7-day-forecast (they are gone now) inspired me to think about going up north for the weekend. There is a high of 75 along northern Lake Superior (think Beaver Bay and Grand Marais) - but still hot in Ely and inland from the Lake. So I think My Charming Companion and I are going to try a spontaneous mini Superior Hiking Trail trip for a couple of days. I have never hiked the trail, so this seems a very mild introduction to see how it goes. I haven't actually been hiking in close to 10 years, and my backpack was quite cobwebby when I pulled it out of the garage. But 2 days!? Why not.

I bought a roasted chicken so that I could just eat that (cold) all week rather than cook. And I've had smoothies and cobb salads (with cucumbers instead of cheese & avocado), lots of pickles, and sardine salad boats - aka, sardine salad in a cucumber. They are easy to eat, sort of akin to an open faced sandwich, and perfect on a 95 degree day. You could also do the filling in small cucumbers for a festive appetizer or potluck sort of item. You know - anything easily picked up and eaten makes a good candidate for a potluck.

Wild Planet sardines are on sale at the Co-ops again - only $2 each (I think only til Sept though). I bought more than a case full because it seems handy to have these on hand. I started using sardines in place of canned tuna for "tuna" salad just because sardines are more sustainable and are so good for you. Sardine salad is a little more wet - though I imagine that is partly because I get them packed in oil as opposed to the water packed tuna.

Cucumber Sardine Boat
2-4 cucumbers (depending on their size), sliced in half, seeds removed
One tin sardines
2 T Mayo
2 T Fresh herbs: I used Dill and Parsley, chopped
Either pickles or olives, chopped
2 T red onion, minced
1 tsp mustard
salt and pepper to taste
2 T Toasted pistachios, chopped

Mix everything but the pistachios (and cucumbers, obviously!) in a bowl. Spoon into hollowed/de-seeded cucumber "boats" and sprinkle with pistachios.

To-go cucumber boats!