Oven Baked Haddock

Carrie's master's thesis on bilingual education, cooking as metaphor throughout, Naomi reads draft proudly. The week was the life. The life was the cooking. The cooking was the love. And the love was the week, and the week was one of the weeks that stack together to become the years, and the years become the life, and the life is the woman at the stove who cooks and writes and loves and does not stop.

I made she-crab soup on Sunday — the anchor, the constant, the practice. The soup was perfect. The perfection was the practice. And the practice continues, one Sunday at a time, one bowl at a time, one life at a time, the woman stirring, the roux thickening, the kitchen warm, the family fed, the love alive.

She-crab soup is my Sunday anchor, but it was Carrie’s week — her words, her thesis, her hard-won pages — and sometimes the kitchen asks you to shift. I reached for the haddock instead, white and clean and simple, because after a week so full of meaning, I needed a dish that just held still. Oven baked haddock is that kind of recipe: it doesn’t demand your attention or your cleverness; it only asks you to show up, and then it feeds everyone beautifully.

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

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs fresh haddock fillets
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray or a thin coat of butter.
Prepare the butter sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, lemon juice, minced garlic, paprika, thyme, and onion powder until combined.
Season the fish. Pat the haddock fillets dry with paper towels and arrange them in a single layer in the prepared baking dish. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Coat the fillets. Spoon the butter sauce evenly over the top of each fillet, making sure every piece is well coated.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork and the edges are lightly golden. Internal temperature should reach 145°F.
Garnish and serve. Remove from the oven, scatter fresh parsley over the top, and serve immediately with lemon wedges alongside roasted vegetables or steamed rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Oven Baked Haddock — The Sunday Ritual That Feeds More Than Hunger