I discovered a new snack I am enjoying the hell out of, smoked clams in olive oil. Of course, I must share my pleasure with you and encourage you to partake.

There is no logical reason why tuna in a can is mainstream while other tin-enclosed seafood remains relegated to a niche market. Now that we have brands devoted to sustainable fishing practices, we can feel better about breaking out our can openers. From Matthew G. Kadey, M.Sc., R.D.:

If fresh fish seems inconvenient, expensive, and hard to prepare, you’re forgetting about a handy option: canned swimmers. In many ways canned fish is a better choice. Multiple common varieties offer less-expensive, better-tasting products naturally low in toxins and contaminants and, as a bonus, harvested in an environmentally sustainable way.

Let us address our palate’s preferences.

When I snack, salty and smoky are my desired flavor outcomes. BBQ chips or Funyuns might satisfy your cravings. I respect your decision, but I’ll take a different route. Hand over the oily, chewy goodness of the delectable canned clam.

If you were a clam, wouldn’t you like to float around in some fragrant olive oil? Me too. If I’ve been kickin’ it in salt water my whole life, I’d be grateful for the change of pace. From whfoods.com:

Thanks to its status as a spotlight food in the Mediterranean Diet, and thanks to extensive research on its unique phytonutrient composition, olive oil has become a legendary culinary oil with very difficult-to-match health benefits. Among its extensive list of phytonutrients, no single category of nutrients is more important than its polyphenols.

We all know olive oil is good for us. What are we getting out of the clams themselves? From livestrong.com:

Clams are surprisingly high in iron. So high, in fact, that t-bone steaks and beef liver don’t compare. A three-ounce serving of cooked clams, or about nine small clams, has about 24 milligrams of iron. That’s more iron than recommended each day for most adults (iron RDA is 18 milligrams per day for pre-menopausal women and eight milligrams per day for adult men and post-menopausal women.)

For athletes in particular, iron is crucial. It is intimately involved in the conversion of blood sugar to energy. Metabolic energy enables our big ol’ muscles to fire on all cylinders while training or competing.

So we’ve got protein and iron for muscle, phytonutrients for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and liver health promoting activities, rich flavor to satisfy our cravings and the convenience of an easy to open can.

Just use a spork and not your fingers, dig? I don’t want to be responsible for your stanky digits.

Kap