Alton Toast (Avocado Sardine Toast)

alton toast (named for inimitable alton brown, who created the original version of this recipe) is our go-to breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack when we need something filling and delicious that feels good. it's easy to throw together as long as you keep a couple cans of sardines on hand and have an avocado ripening at home. plus, it's packed with all the best kinds of fats from fish and avocados. as a bonus, because they're low on the food chain, sardines are super sustainable. try to find brisling sardines as they’re more delicate and their bones are barely noticeable.

Serves 2, 2-4 pieces of toast depending on how large the bread is

Ingredients

1 tin of sardines in olive oil
a handful of cilantro or parsley (we prefer cilantro), chopped
1 lemon - 1 tbsp. juice, 1 tsp. zest
2-4 slices of your favourite GF bread (we often go for Canyon Bakehouse 7-grain bread) 
1 ripe avocado
S+P
pickled onions/jalapenos

Instructions

Pick, wash and spin a handful of cilantro or parsley in a salad spinner. Chop and set aside. (The quantity depends on how much you want to eat really, we're obsessed so we add way more than the average person :D)

Open sardines and reserve olive oil in its own tin. Place sardines in a medium-sized bowl and pick out any large bones (not necessary for smaller sardines). Mash up the sardines and combine with lemon juice, half of the chopped cilantro or parsley, and lemon zest. Add a drizzle of the sardine oil to the mixture for some moisture.

If you have a toaster oven, brush sardine oil onto bread slices and toast until desired doneness. Otherwise, toast pieces of bread in a toaster without the oil and gently rub a clove of garlic on the surface when the toast is ready. 

Halve the avocado, dispose pit and spoon flesh into a bowl. Mash with a fork. Add a squeeze of lemon juice for a pop of acidity and salt and pepper to taste. 

Lay out toast on plates and assemble by topping with the avocado mixture, followed by the sardine mixture. Garnish with cilantro or parsley and lemon zest. Extra bonus if you have pickled onions or jalapenos on hand to top with!