Hi!
Happy Monday, I hope your weekend was fabulous! Mine was nice and relaxing, filled with lots of eating and laziness. We started the weekend off with Japanese Shabu Shabu, followed it up with a BBQ with a plethora of goodies, then went to a friends for some amazing chicken, then ended the weekend with burgers! We ate A LOT this weekend and it was all meat.
That is why I am so excited it is meatless Monday! Don’t get me wrong, I love meat, but I was raised primarily eating mostly vegetables, so anytime I can jump at a meatless dish I do.
This week I am sharing an amazing Slow Roasted Black Cod with Red Chermoula by Bon Appétit Magazine. Bon Appétit is my FAVE cooking magazine and Instagram Account! Their Insta is comprised of pictures taken by and food cooked by BA staff. Everything always looks delicious and I always end up with a huge DROOL face.
Anyways.
Justin and I went to the local Asian Grocery Store, 99 Ranch Market. They have the best fresh produce, fresh seafood and fresh meat at the LOWEST prices. It’s crazy.
I took advantage of the low prices and bought some fresh Black Cod that was on sale. I knew I wanted to make a beautiful lentil salad for the black cod to sit on top of, but I wasn’t sure on how I wanted to prepare the dish. Black Cod, also known as sabelfish , has a silky texture and a very rich flavor. It has high oil content, a lot of fat and is buttery…almost velvety. Because of this the fish is usually paired with a miso sauce. the miso brings a salty, earthy, sweet element to the dish.
Ok, so, I know that sounds DELICIOUS, buttttt……I didn’t want to do that.
It took me awhile and I finally found this recipe from BA. I was immediately ALL about this recipe because of chermoula. The fact that it was a red chermoula, hell yeah, count me in!
Chermoula is used in various areas of African Cooking and is usually paired with fish or seafood. Sometimes it is paired with meat, which my friend Brooke Lyn did this weekend. She made an AMAZING chermoula sauce with chicken. IT WAS SO GOOD. Often it is made with oil, garlic, fresh herbs, citrus and varying spices.
Basically, its fucking delicious.
The recipe was super easy.
I made the chermoula in a jiffy mixing cilantro stems, red chile, garlic, oil, tomato paste, paprika, red pepper flakes, honey, allspice, and 1 Tbsp. vinegar into a bowl.
I spread the mixture over my stunning fish and surrounded it around some seasonally delectable organic heirloom tomatoes, and popped it into the oven.
While the black cod was in the oven I made the lentil salad with red lentils, onions, garlic and cucumber. I had to Indian-ify the lentils with cumin and a little turmeric.
Once the cod was cooked. I laid it on a bed of the spiced lentils and added the freshly burst heirloom tomatoes and their juices.
I saved a little of the chermoula from earlier and spooned the extra over the fish. SO GOOD.
BA really came through on this recipe. My lentil salad paired perfect with it too!
Hope you all enjoy!
- ¼ bunch cilantro, leaves and stems separated, stems finely chopped
- 1 Fresno chile, seeded if desired, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, plus more for drizzling (optional)
- 1½ pounds skin-on black cod or cod fillet
- 2 pints Sun Gold or other cherry tomatoes, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup red lentils
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cups vegetable stock or water
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 1/2 cup arugula
- 1/2 cucumber,chopped
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. oil
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 ts. chili powder
- salt to taste
- Preheat oven to 300°. Mix cilantro stems, chile, garlic, oil, tomato paste, paprika, red pepper flakes, honey, allspice, and 1 Tbsp. vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside 3 Tbsp. chermoula for serving.
- Place fish in a 3-qt. shallow baking dish. Cut 1 pint of tomatoes in half and scatter around fish along with remaining whole tomatoes. Spoon remaining chermoula over tomatoes and fish, spreading across the surface with the back of the spoon. Season with salt and pepper and roast until fish is cooked through and tomatoes are soft and some have burst, 20–30 minutes.
- Transfer fish to a platter, breaking into large pieces. Remove and discard skin. Spoon tomatoes and roasting juices over and around fish. Top with reserved chermoula, then cilantro leaves; drizzle with more vinegar, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- In a pan, add 1/2 1 tsp. oil and saute red onion for 2-3 minutes. Add bay leaves and garlic. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add lentils, cumin, turmeric, chili powder and salt. Stir to coat the lentils. 1 minute. Add stock and simmer until cooked al dente.
- Let cool for 10 minutes. Drizzle with remaining oil, lemon juice and salt to taste.
- Mix in chopped cucumbers and arugula.
- Serve fish over lentil salad, spoon tomatoes and roasting juices over and around fish. Top with reserved chermoula, then cilantro leaves; drizzle with more vinegar, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Set aside some of the chermoula before marinating fish. Top fish after cooked.
- The bones are easier to remove after cooking.
- When cooking the lentils, cook them 7-8 minuter under the recommend time to keep firm in the salad.Cook lentils prior to cooing fish to ensure cool down time.
