Baked Fish with Fennel Cabbage and Lemon Gremolata

Continuing on with the Nordic theme diet, as promised I tried out the baked fish and lemon gremolata recipe. The verdict; "Very tasty" from Mr E. and "let's have this again". So that's a resounding success in my book!

Get the Recipe

Ingredients

2 pieces white fish - I used Bangus but the recipe suggests haddock 

Green cabbage finely sliced

White cabbage finely shredded

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

50g almonds, chopped - go for the whole unblanched almonds for more nutritional value

1 small red onion finely chopped (use 1 shallot if you can get it)

2tsp sunflower or rapeseed oil

Method

Make the gremolata by heating the oil in a pan then sauté the onion, lemon zest and almonds for a couple of minutes. Set aside.

Mix the cabbages together and place in an even layer in an oven dish. Season the fish fillets with a little salt and pepper then lay them on top of the cabbage before pouring the lemon juice over both fish and cabbage.

Top the fish with the gremolata, pressing down a little, then bake in the oven at 190C for around 15 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending upon the fish you use. Serve with a little yoghurt/parsley dip and crusty bread.

I found the meal to be very light and well balanced providing an interesting variance of texture. The almonds in the gremolata provide an excellent crunch before you progress on to the soft fish and its all rounded out by the lightly cooked cabbage.The flavours of the fennel worked really well with the almonds and lemon to produce a taste explosion with every bite. A glass of crisp light white wine would have been ideal. Sadly we, being healthy souls this week, had just water! I'll definitely be cooking this again though next time I may stick to the full recipe and use a thinly shredded fennel bulb with the cabbage rather than just fennel seeds... thats if i can find it at a reasonable price.

Approximate Meal Cost: For two, including bread 120thb (£2.20, US$3.45)