Roasted Cod with Mushrooms, Leeks, Fennel & Frekkeh

I’m pretty much a creature of habit when it comes to our weekly grocery shopping, but you already knew that because I’ve said that before. So I’ll continue. I usually pick up some fish that’s on sale, fresh veggies & some kind of grain from the whole grain aisle. I recently found frekkeh (pronounced freak-uh) which is really young wheat (sorry not gluten-free) that to me has a texture (when cooked) somewhere between rice & quinoa. I took a stab at making some with some of my regular ingredients in the rotation: cod, veggies & chimichurri sauce.

It turned out to be pretty delicious, plus you can eat it all in a bowl &  it’s a pretty complete meal. We’ll definitely be having more frekkeh in the future.

Have you tried frekkeh? What do you make yours with?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup freekeh
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced (I used baby portobellos & oyster mushrooms)
• 4 baby leeks, cleaned & cut on the diagonal into 1 inch pieces
• 1 small fennel bulb, sliced thinly
• 3/4 lb cod
• 2 tablespoons chimichurri sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + a little more for drizzling
• salt & pepper

Make it!

1. Pre-heat oven to 450.
2. Toast dry freekeh in a medium saucepan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant.
3. Add water & bring to a boil.
4. Cover & reduce heat to a simmer.
5. Cook the frekkeh until liquid is absorbed & freekeh is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Uncover & fluff with a fork.
6. In the mean time toss the veggies in a large mixing bowl with the olive oil, salt & pepper.
7. Lay veggies out on two sheet trays in an even layer. Try not to overcrowd or overlap.
8. Roast the veggies in the oven for 15 minutes.
9. While the veggies cook, cut the cod into four pieces. Drizzle each piece with about a teaspoon of olive oil & season with salt & pepper.
10. Remove sheet trays of veggies from the oven & toss the veggies around so that the other side has a chance to roast. Place the pieces of cod on top of some of the veggies.
11. Return the veggies & the fish to the oven. Bake in the oven for another 12 minutes or until the fish is opaque.
12. In bowls add a scoop of the frekkeh, a spoonful of the veggies & top it with a piece of the cod. Spoon a little bit of the chimichurri over the cod & enjoy!