Balsamic Roasted Vegetables and Lemon and Black Pepper Cod with Birds Eye

When I’m thinking of ways to treat myself in the middle of the week I like to try and make my life as easy as possible. I prefer to make things where everything is cooked together, or use the same tools. For example I would always try to steam any vegetables over potatoes or pasta that I’m cooking, or if I’m roasting something I try to put everything in the oven. That’s what this meal is all about; grabbing a few bits and bobs from around the kitchen and lifting a meal into something delicious. So, instead of going for a standard fillet of fish, I tried the Lemon and Cracked Black Pepper Lightly Dusted Cod from the Birds Eye ‘Inspirations’ range and works so well with sticky balsamic roasted veggies.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

• 2 Birds Eye Lemon and Cracked Black Pepper Lightly Dusted Cod fillets
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 red onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil (for roasting)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 120g mixed rice
• Couple handfuls rocket
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Get a large pan of salted water on to boil.

Mix the onions with the olive oil and a little salt and pepper on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for ten minutes.

After ten minutes add the tomatoes to the tray with the balsamic vinegar and the rosemary then return to the oven for 20 minutes. Put the cod on a separate baking tray and put this in the oven at the same time.

Cook rice according to the pack instructions (it should take around 20 minutes).

When the rice is cooked, drain well then add the juice from the lemon and a good helping of black pepper.

Stir the roasted tomatoes and onions through the rice then serve everything together with a good handful of rocket.

Give everything a little drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil before eating.

I think this works so well as a meal because there’s only a little bit of prep work to do and it’s all ready at the same time. The combination of lemon and black pepper cod works so well with the faint rosemary flavour from the roasted veg; the cod itself flakes apart so easily. The onions and tomatoes bring sweetness, the vinegar adds a lovely sticky glaze and the lemon and rocket bring a little freshness too. Depending on which rice you use (I used a basmati and wild mix) will give different flavours and textures to the finished dish. This would of course work with cous cous or quinoa if you preferred and you could mix the veggies up depending on what you had in your kitchen. Delicious, fresh, full of veg and ready in only 30 minutes.

This is a sponsored post and I was reimbursed by Birds Eye for my time and ingredients. All opinions and words are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support me.