Get your Omegas

You hear Omegas and you hear oily fish right? But what fish should we eat to get our omegas?

I’ve always just slapped a salmon fillet on just about any food combo and wham bam got my oily fish for the week. 
Then I heard a mnemonic the other week and thought I’d try and get a few recipes on here incorporating some other options.
SMASH
👉🏼 Salmon👉🏼 Mackerel 👉🏼 Anchovies 👉🏼 Sardines 👉🏼 Herring

Why do we need Omegas?

Omega 3&6 are essential fatty acids. Essential means we cannot make them in the body so we must get them from food. It’s generally said that as a society we don’t struggle as much to get Omega 6 in the diet. This is because we can get our Omega 6 from sources such as wholegrain, eggs, poultry, nuts and most vegetable oils. These are thought to be a bit easier for people to include in their diet or they are included already in many food products. It is said that Omega 3 often takes a bit of a bashing as a sacrifice for Omega 6. In other words our Omega 3:6 ratio is often a bit off. Ideally, we want the ratio to be 1:4, but it has been argued that the western diet can range from 10:1 to 50:1!

Omega 3 fatty acids are integral in the synthesis of proteins involved in anti inflammatory pathways and are said to be important for potential prevention of cardiovascular disease, some cancers, inflammation, blood pressure and childhood development (Punia et al, 2019). Aside from all the great sciencey stuff that’s cheerleading for omega 3s, it can’t be a bad thing to get some in the diet right?!

So here’s 2 recipes incorporating 2 SMASH fish sources that I feel are often left alone on the shelf waiting for their hey day. The first one is the humble and often hated anchovy – but I swear this recipe isn’t fishy in any way. Anchovies just makes the tapenade much more flavoursome as well as adding a great source of omega 3 fatty acids. Anchovies in themselves are thought to lower triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood!

Black Olive Tapenade

▪️160g stained black olives▪️3 anchovies ▪️2 tsp capers ▪️5 sundried tomatoes ▪️4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (preferably cold pressed)▪️1 garlic clove roasted 
1️⃣ Throw all ingredients into the food processor

It’s that easy! Tastes like holiday 😎
Great as a dip or as a side to your dins

Want another SMASH fish recipe? Well I’m gonna give you one!

Chilli Ginger Mackerel with Wild Rice and Miso Greens

🥦 1 packet of smoked mackerel (skinless boneless) 🥦 1 cup wild rice 🥦 2 shallots, sliced 🥦 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 🥦 thumb sized piece of ginger grated (keep a little bit back and chop into thin strips) 🥦 1 red chilli, sliced 🥦 half a broccoli, cut into florets 🥦 3/4 cup of frozen edamame beans 🥦 1 Pak Choi, leaves separated 🥦 1 tbsp white miso paste 🥦 1 tbsp mirin or rice wine vinegar 🥦 1 tbsp sesame oil 🥦 1 tbsp dark soy 🥦 handful of fresh coriander 1️⃣ Cook the rice according to packet 
2️⃣ Meanwhile fry off the onion, garlic, ginger and half of the chilli in some oil until soft 
3️⃣ Add the broccoli, Pak Choi and edamame 
4️⃣ Put the mackerel on a baking tray, scatter over half of the chilli and the slices of ginger and put in the oven on 180degrees for 10 mins 
5️⃣ Add the miso paste and a little water to the pan with the veg, mix in until combined then add the soy, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and cook for a further 5 mins 
6️⃣ Chuck the coriander into the veg just before serving. Add extra chilli if you wish
This was enough for 2 dinners with 1 lunch serving for the next day .