Cod With Sweet Peppers

The first review published publicly on Monday — an online journal that covers food writing and regional nonfiction. Half a page, sympathetic and specific, with the phrase "necessary book" in the headline. Sarah sent it at seven in the morning with "this is how you start a publication week." I read it on my phone in the barn during morning feed, standing between Mariposa and the quarter horse gelding I've been starting under saddle, and the horses didn't care about the review at all, which felt appropriate.

Cole called on Tuesday. Theo, his first therapeutic riding client, asked his parents this week to get a horse of his own "when I'm older." Cole described his mother's face when he told her — a kind of stunned gratitude that he said he didn't have words for. He said: "This kid wasn't making requests about the future six months ago." I knew what he meant. The future tense is something you earn your way back to, and you can't always see someone earning it until they use it.

The garden is going in this week — tomatoes and peppers moved to the outdoor beds on Sunday, the earliest I've risked it in years, relying on the extended-range forecast and the fact that the soil temperature has been consistently above fifty for a week. I put in the winter squash on the same day, two new beds where the old asparagus fern used to be. I told Patrick I was expanding. He said "about time." He was watching from the chair at the garden edge, same as last year, same as every year now.

Three weeks to publication. Pre-orders are tracking well, according to Sarah, who tracks these things so I don't have to. A small radio station in Great Falls called to schedule an interview for the week of the publication. I said yes. Thirty seconds of saying yes and then a small flood of anxiety that I breathed through and let pass. Yes, and then whatever comes after yes. That's the whole practice.

Chicken thighs roasted with lemons and green olives — a Mediterranean thing I've made for years, bright and briny, finished with fresh herbs from the kitchen windowsill. The garden isn't producing yet and won't be for another month, but the windowsill thyme is there as it always is, and the meal is possible.

The garden is in and the windowsill herbs are holding their own, and that’s enough to build a meal around right now — something bright and simple that doesn’t demand more than the season is ready to give. This cod with sweet peppers is that kind of dish: olive oil, good color from the peppers, a little garlic, finished fast. It fits the week — pre-orders tracking, Theo asking about the future tense, Patrick watching from the chair at the garden edge — the kind of meal that doesn’t ask you to explain anything, just to show up and eat it.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 cod fillets (about 6 oz each), patted dry
2 large sweet bell peppers (1 red, 1 yellow), thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, half juiced and half sliced into rounds
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Place an oven-safe skillet or baking dish on the stovetop over medium heat.
Soften the peppers. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan. Add sliced peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Season the cod. Rub the cod fillets with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season evenly with smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper.
Nestle and arrange. Push the peppers to the sides of the pan and lay the cod fillets in the center. Tuck lemon rounds around and between the fillets.
Roast until done. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast 12—14 minutes, until the cod flakes easily with a fork and is opaque through the thickest part.
Finish and serve. Squeeze the juice of the reserved lemon half over the fish. Scatter fresh parsley over the top and serve directly from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cod With Sweet Peppers — Spring Before the Garden Comes In