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1Looking for a great cod dinner? Love one pot recipes? Well then I have a Mediterranean cod dinner you will love! I start with a base of potatoes and summer squash, then add sliced peppers and top it off with fresh tomatoes and thick cut cod. So yummy!
Summer is in full swing here at BitofBacon HQ! Visits to the zoo and the beach. Summer camp. Dinner out on the deck. I love this time of year!
Not that it’s all sunny days.
We actually had almost of week of overcast recently and a few cool days as well. My daughter and I took advantage of one of the cooler days to go to a local zoo since we wouldn’t be dying of heat as we walked around. We picked a small zoo for this trip and we had a great time visiting the gibbons (they had an adorable youngster who was full of energy) and watching the otters (so cute!). And then getting back in the car just in time to deal with SO MUCH TRAFFIC. I love the Boston area, but you can keep the traffic.
After dealing with the traffic, I was so happy that I had made a recipe of my Beer Braised Chicken Tacos in the slow cooker before we left in the morning. Coming back after battling the roads and not having to cook was an excellent idea.
How is the traffic where you are? When I’m stuck in a backup, that’s when I really miss Western Mass. Where we only get backups after Tanglewood concerts and during leaf peeping season. 🙂
Not all the recent, cool days were spent in traffic thankfully. One of them was spent making this tasty Mediterranean cod dinner! Since you will have to turn on your oven for an hour, this is not a dinner for a scorching hot evening.
For those hot nights, a grilled pork tenderloin dinner (meat and sides all the grill!) is a great way to go or maybe lighten it up with a blueberry spinach salad.
But a cooler day? Or a day when you’re really into the air conditioning? Then it’s time to make a one pan baked dinner!
On one hand, turn on the oven. On the other, only one baking dish to clean. I think that’s not bad trade off.
This dinner combines thick cod fillets with all sorts of great, summer produce! Fresh and juicy tomatoes, summer squash, long Italian peppers, sliced potatoes, and tender herbs. These are all ingredients I can get at my farmer’s market right now. (Yes, including the fish – we have a few different meat and fish vendors depending on which market I visit.)
And the recipe itself is made for the warmer months of the year. No heavy sauces or gooey cheese. Instead, lots of great veggies along with enough potatoes to fill you up without overfilling and just the right amount of olive oil to bring everything together.
I think it’s really great how the olive oil and the juices from the fish and from the veggies all combine in the bottom of the baking dish to make a tasty sauce for the meal. The husband likes a little blue cheese dressing with his fish (he loves it with all cod recipes and with baked potatoes), but I go for the olive oil sauce it comes with. And maybe just a titch of some extra fruity olive oil which I keep on hand for drizzling over recipes.
When I was first developing this recipe, I was sauteing the vegetables and then combining them with the fish to finish in the oven. After I had made it a couple of times, I thought ‘Why am I doing this?? Why not just put everything in the oven to start and skip all the standing over the stove?’
So I tried it all the oven…and it was so much easier!
And then I thought ‘Why don’t I add potatoes? Then I don’t need any sides!’
So added potatoes…and I had a one pot meal. 🙂
This is why a try my recipes a few times before they show up on the blog. I never know what great ideas are going to hit me until I make something a few times. The same thing happened with my roasted berry shortcakes. I made the recipe and it was fine and then LIGHT BULB moment and I’m roasting berries to make a good recipe into an amazing recipe.
– Happy Roasting, Annemarie
Baked Mediterranean cod is a one dish meal that's big on flavor and easy on cleanup! Thick cut cod is flavored with olive oil and fresh herbs and baked over a bed of mixed vegetables in this simple oven dinner.
- 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 medium yellow summer squash, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 4 medium yellow potatoes, quartered and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 cubanelle peppers, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 3-4 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 1 1/2 lb captain's cut cod, or other firm white fish
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
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Preheat oven to 425F.
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Mix together the shallots, garlic, squash, potatoes, olive oil, white wine, bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread it all out in a 13x9 casserole dish. Bake the vegetables for 30 minutes.
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Add the peppers and mix them into the rest. Bake for 15 minutes. Check the potatoes for doneness by poking them with a knife. If they aren't done continue baking until they are cooked through.
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Lay the tomato slices over the vegetables. Cut the cod into large chunks and lay it over the tomato slices. Sprinkle the parsley and lemon wedges around the dish. If the vegetables seem a little dry, pour in a little more olive oil or white wine. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cod is cooked through and flakes when poked with a knife.
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Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve.
- Captain's cut cod is cod cut 1 inch thick. If you are using thinner cod you will need to adjust the timing. A thin piece of cod will likely cook in the 10 minute range, but watch it and check it as it cooks.
- 4 ounces of feta or farmer's cheese sprinkled over the top when you add the cod is nice addition to the recipe.
- Have some fruity extra virgin olive oil on hand for drizzling at the table. Or, if you are like my husband, some blue cheese dressing.
- The potatoes should be fully tender by the time you add the cod. If they have any resistance to a knife being poked through them, cook the dish a little longer and then add add the cod when they are ready. You don't want to have to cook the cod longer than necessary.
- White potatoes work great in the recipe in place of the yellow potatoes. And you can switch it up with all sorts of tender summer squash in place of the yellow.
- Any light white wine you have on hand is fine. I buy the little four packs of red or white so I have wine for recipes whenever I need it.
- I bake the recipe start to finish uncovered. This allows the juices to concentrate. If you prefer a saucier recipe, cover the baking dish while baking vegetables and uncover once you add the cod.
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Missed the chance to try this week when Sprouts had cod on sale. But will watch for it next time I’m there. If this can be used with other white fish I’ll put it up one day this week! Any chance to use one pan and have a healthy fish meal in my book is a big plus!
Yes, you can use other white fish. You just need to use thick fish, so no tilapia but a nice haddock would work. Noting that haddock at least is more flaky than cod so you may need to be careful when serving if you want pretty pieces of fish.