Cod with roasted tomato thyme sauce

Cod with roasted tomato thyme sauce

9.26.2016

I'm still holding on tight to any element of summer that I can grasp. Despite my wardrobe beginning to adjust, I'm holding off on switching to Fall flavors. I'm not ready for root vegetables, cranberries, and stews. I still want caprese salads.

In direct correlation, I was having someone over for dinner this weekend. We had made a lot of jokes about my phenomenal carrot crop and how some of them looked downright prehistoric... but I couldn't quite bring myself to cook with carrots yet. When I think of carrots, I think about soups and stews, roasts, and cold weather.

For the dinner, I prepared myself with two options. Despite my excitement over the abundance of carrots, I was pretty thrilled that we chose option 2. This meant for more time watching a gorgeous sunset and looking for cranes... than searing a pork loin on the stove.

• Option 1: Rosemary pork loin with roasted carrots and goat cheese
• Option 2: Cod with thyme roasted tomatoes

Despite printing out the original recipe, we followed almost zero of those notes. Except to combine tomatoes and thyme and fish. There are a few things that made this meal a flipping A+ effort:

• GARDEN FRESH // We cut the thyme and plucked the tomatoes right from the vine after a beach walk. 
• FLEX TIME // The slight caveat for this dish is that you can make it with probably 5 minutes of prep and 30 cooking minutes... or 15 minutes of prep and 45 cooking minutes. The later will yield a more flavorful dish as you give the tomatoes more time to roast. If you are short on time, toss everything in at once and you'll be fine.
• BREAD // I'll admit the bread was a late add - but it was so necessary. I'll also be honest and say I have no idea how it came out so evenly and perfectly toasted. But man, dipping bread in roasted tomato juicy goodness is one of the best things that can happen to you.

Here's how it goes.

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Generously add olive oil to the baking dish and then add in the tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over everything. I cut my tomatoes into wedges and slices in the effort to reduce time needed for getting them nicely roasted. There is no need for perfection here. You'd be wasting your energy.
3. Add the thyme to the dish too. You can take the time to remove it from the stick part... or just toss it in whole. Roast the dish for about 20 minutes or so. Season your cod fillets with salt and pepper ... then add them right on top of the tomato mixture.
4. Cod will take about 12-15 minutes at 400. 
5. With about 5 minutes left, generously drizzle sliced bread with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Add your sliced bread to the top to toast up. 
6. Fish is done when it flakes easily.

Shopping List

2 cod fillets, about 6-8 oz each

olive oil

salt & pepper

lemon juice

6-8 tomatoes, cut into wedges and slices

1/2 medium onion, sliced

lemon juice

sprigs of thyme

2 cloves of garlic, roughly minced

great bread

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2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1 teaspoon salt
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