Cod + Vegetable Bake

Over the weekend, we dropped in at the fish market stall to pick up a winner. Unfortunately, none of our usual suspects were on ice, so we hightailed it homeward with a fresh piece of black cod. I'd never prepped black cod before.. what to do? Once again, Miss Betty's bible (Betty Crocker's Cookbook) saved the day!

Without futher ado, I give you Cod + Vegetable Bake:

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds cod fillets
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted [I used EVOO. ]
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 5 slices bread, crust removed, cubed
• 2 medium carrots, coarsely shredded [I just sliced them. Shredding, who has time?]
• 1 large stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 Tablespoons dry bread crumbs
• 2 Tablespoons snipped parsely
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Prepare:

• If your fillets are large, cut them into 6 serving pieces. Arrange in an ungreased rectangular baking dish or a square baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Mix margarine, salt, sage, thyme, bread cubes (I omitted these entirely), carrots, celery and onion. Spread evenly over fish.
• Mix bread crumbs, parsely (I substituted rosemary) and paprika. Sprinkle over vegetables.
• Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven until fish flakes easily with a fork, approx. 35 minutes. (I didn't cover it and it worked out really well. If you like crusty or crunchy stuffing, this'll help. The fish remains flaky.)

Notes: I didn't use two pounds of fish. We bought a size that appealed to Doug, since he was the only one eating it. Also, I didn't use or attempt to cut down the measurements; I simply eyeballed it based on preferences and tossed things together. Now for the action photos (everyone's favorite part)!

Here we have the washed fillet with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Vegetable mix.

Bread crumbs, parsely and paprika.

All assembled and ready to bake!

Dinner is served. Side dish this time around was White Bean Mash (also delicious!).