Green Seasoning Baked Cod
“If you took the contents of nearly any bottle of green seasoning and broke it down to its component ingredients, you’d have the makings of this recipe,” writes recipe developer and cookbook author Brigid Washington. “Green seasoning is a bright, piquant, and herbaceous staple particularly beloved in Trinidad & Tobago, where it’s often used to inject complex and robust flavors into meat, poultry, and fish prior to cooking. The aromatic blend consists of cilantro (or culantro, which grows wild on the island), garlic, onions, scallions, a source of acid, and a source of heat. For this recipe, the core components of green seasoning aren’t puréed as they traditionally are but rather chopped by hand. Mild and mellow white fish—in this case, cod—is baked under this blanket of fresh herbs, and the end result is a simple yet comforting dish that also has bright bursts of tropical flavors and oomph. This is exactly the type of recipe I want during a very languid January.”
What you’ll need
13x9" Baking Dish
$18 $16 At Amazon
Microplane
$17 At Amazon
8-Inch Chef's Knife
$67 $48 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Measuring Cups
$18 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Small Bowl
$18 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 300°. Thinly slice ¼ Vidalia or other sweet onion with a chef’s knife and place in a medium baking dish. Place four 6-oz. skinless, boneless cod fillets on top of onion slices. Generously sprinkle fillets on both sides with 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and season with freshly ground black pepper. Pour ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil over, then finely grate zest from 1 lime on top; set lime aside. Turn fillets to coat. Let cod sit while you prepare remaining ingredients.
Step 2
Smash, peel, and coarsely chop 4 garlic cloves. Peel one 2" piece ginger with a spoon, then thinly slice; place in a small bowl. Cut slices into matchsticks; cut matchsticks into small cubes. Place garlic and ginger in a small bowl.
Step 3
Pick leaves off 4–5 thyme sprigs and chop; discard stems. You should have about 1 Tbsp. chopped thyme. Coarsely chop leaves and tender stems from 1 small bunch cilantro until you have ½ cup (reserve remaining cilantro for another use); add herbs to bowl with garlic and ginger.
Step 4
Trim and coarsely chop 2–4 scallions to yield about ⅓ cup and place in same bowl.
Step 5
Slice 1 red bell pepper in half lengthwise and remove ribs and seeds; discard. Finely chop flesh and add to bowl. Slice 1 habanero chile in half lengthwise and remove ribs and seeds; discard. Finely chop half of chile; reserve remaining chile for another use. Add bell pepper and chile to bowl and toss all ingredients with your hands to combine.
Step 6
Spoon mixture evenly over cod to completely cover. Slice reserved lime in half and squeeze juice over; sprinkle with remaining ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt and drizzle with remaining 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil. Bake until fish is opaque and cooked through and red pepper and chile are softened, 25–35 minutes. Serve cod with cooked brown rice or ramen noodles.
