Spice up the breading to make baked fish special

Published 2:20 pm Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Baked and breaded white fish is a great idea. It’s healthy. It’s easy.

Unfortunately, too often it’s also tasteless.

But there’s an easy fix. This simple recipe uses a blend of mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup as the glue with which to adhere a bread crumb coating to cod or other fillets.

It also amplifies the flavor of the coating by combining crunchy panko (Japanese-style) bread crumbs with ground pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Parsley also is added, but more flavorful seasonings would be good, too. Try chili powder, cumin, or Italian blends.

Want to lighten up this recipe? Substitute fat-free sour cream for the mayonnaise. If you do, consider adding bit of onion powder or powdered garlic to the mixture to compensate for the flavor loss.

This recipe includes a quick lemony saute of greens with which to serve the fish. For a new take on a fried fish sandwich, consider serving the fish and greens wrapped in a flour tortilla or other flatbread.

CRISP BAKED COD WITH GREENS

1tablespoon ketchup

2tablespoons Dijon mustard

2tablespoons mayonnaise

1cup panko bread crumbs

1/4cup pine nuts

1/2cup grated Parmesan cheese

2tablespoons dried parsley

1pound cod fillets (or other firm white fish)

1tablespoon olive oil

2cloves garlic, minced

1medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

5ounces baby spinach

Zest of 1 lemon

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large, shallow bowl, whisk together the ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. Set aside.

In a food processor, combine the bread crumbs, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and parsley. Pulse until finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a second wide, shallow bowl. Set aside.

Divide the cod fillets into 4 pieces. One at a time, dredge each piece first through the mayonnaise mixture, turning to coat both sides, then through the bread crumb mixture, again turning to coat evenly.

Arrange the fillets on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and flakes easily.

While the fish cooks, in a large skillet over medium-high, heat the oil. Add the garlic and onion, then saute until the onion is tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the spinach and saute until it just wilts, about 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the heat and mix in the lemon zest. Divide the greens between 4 serving plates and top each serving with a piece of the baked cod.

Makes 4 servings. Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 383 calories; 150 calories from fat; 17 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 55 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrate; 29 g protein; 3 g fiber; 717 mg sodium.