Showing posts with label cod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cod. Show all posts

Friday, August 17, 2012

Clean Eating's Maple-Dijon Cod



My best friend Cathy got me a subscription to Clean Eating Magazine a couple years ago, and I requested (yes, I really did make a request as to what I wanted for Christmas!) she get it for me again this year because the recipes are rockin'! Like I've said before, I'm not a fan of their nutrition information (I always seem to find inaccurate statements, and even when I write them and they admit they were wrong they never post them on their "comments to the editor" page. Go figure), but their recipes make the magazine worth reading. The recipes do all seem to be fairly low in sodium, so if you aren't used to lower sodium dishes they might take some getting used to (but in my opinion, you should get used to using less sodium in your food and recipes!).

A few Sundays ago Nick and I decided to have his mom over for dinner. Nick's mom, Dee, is a real foodie and is willing to try just about anything. I love that about her because I never hesitate to make new and unique dishes when she comes over (she inspired me to make this avocado ice cream) and that's not to mention the fact that she always serves some great food when we go over to her place for meals (and Nick's sister, Meghan, is also a real talent in the kitchen!). So on this particular Sunday I really wanted to make fish. Nick will only eat fish that doesn't "taste like fish" so cod was my best option. I grabbed my Clean Eating Magazine and flipped to a recipe I had tabbed; Maple-Dijon Cod. I made a few minor adjustments (due to my low FODMAPs diet) and came up with this;

Maple-Dijon Cod
(low FODMAPS)
(Source: Clean Eating Magazine)

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 t olive oil (for fish)
1 t garlic olive oil (for spinach)
3 T black or brown mustard seeds
2 T Dijon mustard
2 T pure maple syrup
1 t balsamic vinegar
Kosher or sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper to taste
4 5-ounce pieces of center-cut cod fillets
10 cups raw spinach

Directions
1. In a small nonstick skillet, heat 2 tsp olive oil on medium-low heat. Add mustard seeds and stir to coat. Cover and cook until seeds begin to pop (about 4-5 minutes). Once they begin to pop, and they've been popping for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat and let sit, covered, until popping stops (about 1-2 minutes). Transfer the seeds to a mixing bowl and add the dijon, maple syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper, and mix well.

2. Adjust oven rack ~5 inches from the heating element (broiler) and preheat the broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange the cod on baking sheet in a single layer. Spoon the dijon mixture over top of the cod, making sure to not get much on the foil (because it will burn!).


Broil until cooked through and flakes easily (about 8 minutes). Remove from oven and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

3. Heat a large skillet on medium-high and add 1 tsp garlic olive oil to pan. Add the raw spinach and saute until it's wilted (about 2 minutes). Spoon the spinach onto serving plates, and top for the cod.



I served this with mashed sweet potatoes as the side (since Nick insists on having a starch, or two, with all of his meals). For dessert we had Girl Scout Cookies (or wait, Dee and I didn't have any, but Nick had eight. No joke. Dee and I were content with our alcoholic beverages; Dee had wine, I had an IPA beer). This recipe was devoured by all three of us, and will certainly be made again. And again. And...again.

QUESTION: Do you ever use mustard seeds in your cooking? I'd never seen a recipe with mustard seeds, so this was a first for me!

Any fun plans for Easter? My mom and dad are hosting Easter this year, which means no travel this year (yeah!). Not that I ever travel far, but it's nice to have a 2-minute drive :) I'm making a spinach salad and gluten free simple lemon bars. I'll be posting the recipes on Monday!


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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Lazy, Yet Delicious Meals

A couple weeks ago (yes, I'm behind on posting this!) I had my friend Janan over for dinner. Janan is also a dietitian, so whenever she comes over we try to make healthy meals together. It's always fun cooking as we sip on wine (or in my case, a cold beer!) and catch up on life. When Janan came over the last time I felt incredibly lazy. She got to work making her 4-Spice Smashed Sweet Potatoes, and I just....watched. You know that feeling of just wanting to watch someone cook...right? I mean, the Food Network is popular for a reason.


4-Spice Smashed Sweet Potatoes
(Serves ~ 6)

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 T cilantro, chopped
4-5 shakes of Red Hot
2 cloves garlic, chopped (we omitted this)
1/4 t pepper


Directions

1. Boil the sweet potatoes until nice and soft (~ 5-10 minutes)

2. MASH those babies (with the skin on)

3. Add all the cilantro, garlic, yogurt, Red Hot, and mix well.


Eventually I decided not to be lazy, and I got off my butt and grabbed the cod I had thawed in the fridge. It was wild-caught cod, but I completely forget where it was from. Anyway, I rolled the three cod fillets in one egg white and then sprinkled about 2 tablespoons (on each) of whole wheat Italian bread crumbs on the cod.



The final meal was a breaded cod filet served with sauteed spinach and 4-spice smashed sweet potatoes. We all agree it was perfect (Nick was with us).



Which picture looks better, top or bottom? I know neither of them look great, but I'm working on getting better lighting with my photos. This night was one of those "red sky at night" evenings, which make for poor photo lighting.



After Janan left I asked Nick to get out the grill to cook some chicken I had thawed. I was going to cook it inside and then use it for weekly meals, but then I thought "I'm feeling so lazy, wouldn't it be great if Nick could just grill this?!". Since Nick is the best, he agreed to get out the grill around 8:30pm to appease me and grill the chicken.




At this time we had never used the grill before (this was about two weeks ago, and since then we've only used it two other times), and I should have made something special, but I had no desire (again, I was lazzzzy). Either way, here is what I did;

1. Got out 3 chicken breasts (Antibiotic and Hormone Free, although just an FYI, all chicken is hormone free)

2. Coated the raw chicken with 2 T EVOO (to add juiciness and to protect from AGEs)



3. Once grilled, I vovered the grilled chicken with BBQ sauce



Last step: Put in fridge or freezer for weekly meals
(lazy prep for some meals for upcoming week; complete)


Question: What's your favorite thing to grill in the summer? I won't lie, I'm excited for some Italian sausages and bratwursts!