Easy, Healthy, Tasty

Isn't that a great combination?

Yesterday we decided on fish for dinner, and I pulled out one of the first dinner recipes I made as an adult (the few things I learned in girl scouts or from my mom don't count, I did those as a teenager). I started going on Martha Stewart's website to look for new recipes quite a bit in college, when I realized I really, really loved to cook and experiment with food. I printed out this recipe in March of 2001, my junior year of college. I've made it fairly regularly ever since then, with the exception of the past year or so, when I just haven't been cooking dinner that often.

Ginger-lime-soy cod with tomatoes, leeks and spinach, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe from the February 1998 MSL.

The first thing I did with this recipe was cut out the oil. You don't need it, it's just extra calories and fat for no reason.

Ingredients, for the marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce
10T (1/2 cup + 2T) lime juice (or a combination of lime and lemon juices)
3-4T freshly grated ginger (grate over the bowl to catch the juice, too)
1/4-1/2t freshly ground black pepper

Combine all in a bowl, set aside.

2lbs tomatoes, cut into wedges (any kind of tomatoes can be used, cherry and grape tomatoes cut in half also work well)
2lbs leeks, ends trimmed, cut into 1/2-3/4in rings, and washed well (or you can use 2lbs onions cut into wedges, or a combination of the two- onions will require a longer cooking time)
1lb spinach, washed

6 5oz cod fillets- last night I used half cod fillets and half "captain's cut cod loins", which were thicker pieces of fish, and I much preferred over the thin fillets (just from the taste and texture) (In the photo above, the piece of fish on the left is the "captain's cut loin") And finally, other white fishes, such as scrod, haddock, etc work well. I haven't tried tilapia, but I think it would substitute nicely, possibly with a shorter cooking time (thinner cut of fish).

Arrange (i.e. dump or toss) the cut tomatoes and leeks/onions into a 9x13 inch pan, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (photo taken before I cut the tomatoes)

In another 9x13 pan (pictured here is an 8x8 pan, I made a full recipe of veggies, but only half a recipe of fish), lay the cod fillets skin side down.
Brush liberally with the ginger-soy-lime sauce (or just spoon it over). Only use about half the marinade, you'll need more for later.
And bake in a 425oF oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the veggies, turn them over with a spoon, and brush with more marinade. Return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the onions/leeks are tender. Continue cooking the fish for 5-10 more minutes, until it's opaque, then remove and keep warm while waiting for the veggies.

Note: a better arrangement might be to cook the veggies for 10 minutes, remove to turn and brush with more marinade, then return to the oven and put the fish in the oven now to bake for 10 minutes more. This way the fish will be done when the veggies are.

Anyway, after cooking the veggies for the second 10 minute interval, remove from the oven, and lay the spinach on top of the leeks/tomatoes/onions. Brush with the remaining marinade, and return to the oven for about 5-8 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.
To plate, arrange some spinach on the plate, place one cod fillet over it, and place the veggies on the side. The veggies are pretty soup from their own liquid and the marinade, so a shallow bowl might be a better way to go.
I calculated some of the nutritional info from thedailyplate.com (handy website):
per serving: 250 calories, 6g fat, 24g protein, 20g carbs. Supposedly the fish also has 40mg cholesterol, which is about 16% of your cholesterol on a normal diet.

Additionally, having this dinner makes you feel a little less guilty about having real ice cream for dessert. ;)