Crispy Baked Cod with Lemon-Garlic Spinach

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

Whenever I dine at a really good Chicago-style steak house, my favorite parts of the meal are the side dishes. I am absolutely a fan of a perfectly grilled steak (make that a 1 1/4-inch, medium-rare porterhouse cut), but it's those larger-than-life side dishes--the sautéed whole mushrooms, truffle-scented mashed potatoes and lemon-garlic spinach that bring me to my knees.

Tonight we're having simple baked cod (on sale at Busch's this week for $4.49 a pound) and I satisfy my yen for a steakhouse side by serving the fish over lemon-garlic spinach; the lemon-garlic sauce for the fish will work overtime to season the spinach.

I never cease to be amazed at the disappearing act of fresh greens when sautéed or steamed. A large sink-load of fresh greens turned out to be just enough for four servings. I served this with steamed slices of pattypan squash I purchased at the farmers market on Saturday.

You may eliminate the butter, if desired.

Yield: 3-4 servings
Time: 30 minutes
Cost: varies considerably according to cost of cod

Ingredients

4 (6-8 ounce) pieces cod fillets

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus extra wedges for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped dil
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6 tablespoons panko, Japanese bread flakes or unseasoned bread crumbs
12-14 (12 ounces) cups packed fresh spinach, woody stems removed, washed and spun dry
Paprika

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450Ëš.
2. Brush both sides of fish fillets with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Lightly season one side of fillet with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Arrange fillets on a foil-lined baking sheet.

3. In a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt butter and remaining 2 tablespoons oil; stir in garlic and cook 3 minutes or until fragrant. Turn off heat and stir in lemon juice and dill. Spread 1 teaspoon of butter-dill mixture over each fish fillet, leaving enough of the butter-dill mixture in pan to sauté spinach.
4. Divide and sprinkle with fillets completely and evenly with panko or bread crumbs.

5. Bake fish, on upper-middle rack of oven, until just cooked through, 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of fillet.  Fish should flake easily with a fork when done. After 10 minutes, check to see if bread crumbs are browning. If not, remove fish from oven, move oven rack to top and raise heat to broil. Broil fish an additional minute or two until top is crispy and golden brown.
6. While fish is baking, reheat butter over medium heat and sauté spinach, in batches if necessary, with a pinch of salt until wilted and vibrant green.
6. Divide and center spinach on individual plates or one large platter. Lightly dust cod with paprika and place cod fillet on the center of spinach. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.