Another fish jumps into the salad

I continue to tweak my no-mayonnaise canned fish salad, this time by adding anchovies and fresh lemon juice in addition to pickled lemons (recipe follows). See previous posts, "Cleopatra's tuna-sardine salad" and "Way better than tuna salad."

I combined Alaskan red salmon, albacore tuna (two cans), spicy Moroccan sardines and anchovies, with their oil or water to keep the salad moist. I added a small red onion (diced)  and three small pickled lemons (minced), plus juice from a large lemon. I also added a half cup or more of powdered cumin. Diced celery would be great, too.

The pickled lemon and the spicy oil from the sardines came through, but I couldn't taste the anchovies. I'm still getting the heart-healthy benefit of their Omega-3 fatty acids, which is found in all the fish I used. You could even invite a fifth fish -- salted cod -- to join the party.

If you miss the mayo, I suppose you can spread some on your sandwich bread or toast, but I prefer pesto, hummus or my own low-fat organic yogurt cheese. Feel free to add organic greens and sliced tomatoes with za'atar spice mixture or even sliced cheese, such as Trader Joe's yogurt cheese with jalapenos.

Four-fish salad

1 can of Alaskan red salmon (about 15 ounces)

1 can of albacore or light tuna in oil or water

1 can of Moroccan or other sardines

1 can of anchovies with or without capers

3 small pickled lemons, minced


1 small red onion, diced


juice of one large lemon or more to taste

powdered cumin to taste

Add the fish with their liquid to a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add the other ingredients. You can find the pickled lemons, za'atar and cumin in a Middle Eastern market, such as Fattal's at 975 Main St. in Paterson (973-742-7125) or Sahara Stores at 242 S. Summit Ave. in  Hackensack (201-487-7222).

Middle Eastern fare in Hackensack

Sahara is a small Middle Eastern market in Hackensack crammed with fresh and packaged foods, including hundreds of imported items. You'll also find homemade meat pies, fried kibbe and stuffed grape leaves, plus pita bread from bakeries as near as Paterson and as far away as Montreal.

The store also stocks pickled lemons from Egypt, like the ones I used in my tuna-sardine salad last week. See earlier post, "Cleopatra's tuna-sardine salad." Sahara is at 242 S. Summit Ave., Hackensack; 201-487-7222.

Meanwhile, based on two visits in August, a new Middle Eastern restaurant in Hackensack called Cafe Arabica is a disappointment. It opened in the large space on Main Street once occupied by The Stealth nightclub and before that Lowits clothing store.

I had lunch there soon after it opened, but me and a friend were the only customers and the falafel sandwich was pretty standard fare. I returned around 6 on the evening of Aug. 22, the first day of Ramadan, because the owner said there would be music, yet the place was empty. I walked in, calling hello, but there were no employees in sight. I left, never to return.

Cleopatra's tuna-sardine salad

The Citadel in Aleppo, Syria, which has given us a spicy red pepper.

My tuna salad with a twist took a new turn today when I added pickled lemon, diced, in addition to the usual olive oil, cumin and chopped red onion.

I started with two cans of Kirkland-brand albacore tuna in water from Costco and three cans of skinless and boneless Moroccan Al-Shark sardines in oil from Fattal's in Paterson, all undrained. 

Then I added extra-virgin olive oil, cumin and chopped red onion to taste. Aleppo pepper, a coarse, mildly spicy red pepper you'll also find at Fattal's, wouldn't be out of place here.

The Cleopatra-brand pickled lemons from Egypt (Fattal's) are small and salty. So I diced three and added them and lemon juice to the canned fish, again to taste. 

I put hummus and organic spring mix in warm pita halves (Fattal's), spooned in the fish salad and added sliced plum tomato sprinkled with thyme-based za'atar mix. 

I ate kimchi and olives on the side, and washed it all down with my own mint iced tea.