Pecan crusted cod

In every farmer's market I have visited this summer, I stumble upon beautiful fish stalls. There are abundant choice of seafood on display: from sardines to squids to mussels to clams. As you walk past the stalls, you can smell the sea - salty , salty and more salty.  The ones I get here are from the San Francisco bay and they are definitely not stored in ice chunks for days together so it will be fresh, , hence flavorful and irresistibly delicious.  Who wouldn't love to eat them often?

As the first thing on that Sunday morning I decided to cook cod with pecans and serve them with garbanzo based curry for lunch. I was looking for cod in the farmer's market but by the time I went, everything was sold out and all that was left were mussels, clams and sardines. I picked a pound of mussels and sardines for dinner the following day. Even though there were no fresh cod to cook, I had some frozen fillets from Costco left at home. "I can use those" were the words that popped in my mind. I headed home straight, thawed them in hot water, prepared the pecan crust and baked - Voila, the fish was ready in less than half-hour. Easy and quick. And that's the kind of food you need for Summer.

By the time, the fillets were baking, I prepared chickpeas in spinach sauce. It's been a long time since I posted a South beach friendly dish. So here comes pecan crusted cod fillets.

Recipe source: South beach diet book

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 - Cod/ Tilapia or Trout fillets

1/4 cup - roasted pecans

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

1 garlic clove

Salt to taste

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Method

1.Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2.In a food processor, pulse pecans, rosemary, garlic, and cayenne until finely chopped.

3.Place each fish, opened and flesh side up on the baking sheet.

4. Season flesh side of trout with salt and brush with egg white. Sprinkle nut mixture over egg white and press to adhere. 

5.Drizzle evenly with oil and bake until trout is opaque and tender inside, about 20 minutes.