Pecan-Crusted Cod, Baked Broccoli, and Simple Brown Rice

PB has requested more protein in his diet, and since I shy away from a lot of the protein sources he enjoys, we settled on fish. I saw a recipe for a gorgeous Pecan-Crusted Trout in this month’s Cooking Light magazine, but alas, my Whole Foods had no trout that day. They didn’t have halibut either, so we settled for cod.

This recipe not only required few ingredients, it required little time. In less than 25 minutes dinner was on the table, and no more than 10 minutes after dinner the dishes were done. That is my kind of dinner! Even though I now have the time to take on daunting dinners (read: I will be roasting a whole chicken next week), I still enjoy a quick meal. I think that a lot of people think that eating well and eating a healthy diet requires a lot of time, but really all it requires is a bit of planning. A lot of people also think eating locally or eating mostly an organic diet is expensive, but it really isn’t if you use up every ingredient you buy. If you keep your kitchen stocked with the right ingredients, dinner can be ready in no time and for little money, just like this one.

Pecan-Crusted Cod, Baked Cheesy Broccoli, and Simple Brown Rice

I can’t write the recipe here due to copyrighting issues, but it is in the latest issue of Cooking Light magazine (October 2009 issue) on page 84. Also, it is quite similar to this recipe. It requires so few ingredients that there wasn’t even really room to change it around. I pretty much followed the recipe to a T.

Of course we couldn’t eat fish alone, so I made a quick vegetable and some brown rice to go with it.

For the broccoli… I defrosted a bag of organic broccoli from Whole Foods and then baked it at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Right before serving it I sprinkled it with a touch of sea salt and a little shaving of parmigiano reggiano. Sometimes the smallest additions can make a vegetable dish more flavorful. (note for Caitlin, as she takes on the Learn to Luv Veggies Challenge).

For the brown rice… I am not going to telling you how I made it because it wasn’t good! I am an impatient girl and kept lifting the cover of the rice pot. Tip: Do not do that. The rice should be left covered and undisturbed until finished! Let’s just say PB enjoyed a new type of rice: crunchy rice!

Why the easy post? I want to show how easy it is to eat a balanced meal. I promise you that if you simply take a little time to plan a meal ahead of time, eating dinner before 9 PM can be an easy task.

Keep your eye out for my post on making homemade ravioli! It is the perfect date night task or makes for a fun night with your girlfriends! Trust me, it is a completely different process from this one, which used wonton wrappers. The real thing is SO much more delicious and fun to make!

Also, who else is running the Philly Half Marathon or Marathon, or will at least be in town that weekend? I am putting together a late lunch around Philly on Saturday, November 21st, around 2 PM. If you are interested in coming shoot me an email- rhodeygirltests at gmail dot com! It’s my city now!!!