Baked Cods with Puy Lentils

This is a lovely, super-quick mid-week meal - full of good quality protein, and with cheap and easy to find ingredients.  This is great with a big side helping of green veggies.

Serves 4

6 shallots, chopped (use 2 small onions, if you don't have shallots)

2 leeks, sliced

4 med carrots, peeled and cubed

2 packets pre-cooked Puy lentils (I use Merchant Gourmet, but you can easily replace with one tin of pre-cooked green lentils)

Extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp Herbes de Provence (or any woody, aromatic herb like rosemary or sage)

2 cloves garlic

Seasoning

4 frozen cod fillets

• Heat over to 200 degrees Celsius
• Put chopped shallots, leeks and carrots into a large oven dish. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the herbs, add the crushed garlic, season to taste and give it a good mix up.
• Pop in the oven for 8 minutes.
• After the 8 mins has elapsed, take out the oven and nestle the frozen cod fillets into the veg, return to the oven for a further 25 minutes. 
• (If you’re using fresh cod fillets, then leave the veg to cook for a further 15 minutes (so a total of 23 mins), and then add the fish and cook for 10 minutes).
• Serve with a healthy side of green veg, drizzled with olive oil
• Enjoy!

This a wonderful quick and easy work-night meal. It doesn’t take very long to prepare and there is minimal washing up, both of which are must-haves in the Allan household during the week. This is also a great recipe for this time of year, as both leeks and mushrooms are in season, therefore abundant and affordable, and I’m still getting good Brassicas like the Romanesco cauliflower in my weekly veg box (thank you @Riverford!).

Miso paste is fairly widely available in most supermarkets. It’s a great ingredient to keep in the fridge, as it gives a wonderful umami flavour to broths, veggie gravy, stews and dressings. The pastes tend to taste much better than the powdered variety, so do opt for those if you can. Miso means ‘fermented beans’ in Japanese and is a nice way to incorporate a fermented food into your diet. Good for you gut!

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 leeks, sliced into rings

1 head Romanesco cauliflower, broken into florets (or use broccoli or cauliflower, if not available)

250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

Olive oil

2 tbsp tamari (gluten-free soy sauce, or use regular soy sauce, if that’s what you have)

4 wild or sustainable salmon fillets

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 tbsp sesame seeds (garnish)

Brown rice or quinoa to serve

Dressing

1 tbsp miso paste

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp mirin (rice wine vinegar, or can be substituted with sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar)

½ inch grated ginger or 1 tbsp frozen grated ginger

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced (optional)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Add the leeks, Romanesco florets and sliced mushrooms into a large roasting dish and drizzle with olive oil, 2 tbsp tamari and season with black pepper. Toss the vegetables to cover thoroughly and roast for 15 minutes. Put the rice or quinoa on to cook according to the packet instructions.
3. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a jug. Add a little warm water to loosen to pouring consistency, if necessary. When the 15 minutes are up, remove the roasting dish from the oven, give the veg a good shake, and then evenly space the salmon fillets into the dish, nestling into the veg.
4. Pour over the miso dressing, focussing on the fish fillets. Return the dish to the oven for approximately 10 minutes or until the fish is opaque and cooked to your liking.
5. Scatter over the sesame seeds and sliced spring onions. Serve with the brown rice or quinoa.