Eating the Taco Mango from 419 Tacos inspired me to try more recipes that incorporate fruits and vegetables. I came across this little gem of a meal. Mango Salsa Baked Cod is fun to make and easy to prepare.
The ingredients.
Here’s a quick ingredient list you may need for this meal. The salsa is the most fun to make because you can adjust it to your tastes!
As always, start with fresh ingredients!
- Cod fillets ( 1-2 per person depending on size )
- Red onion
- Pepper ( red, orange, or yellow for color )
- Mangoes
- Tomatoes
- Lemon
- Cilantro
- Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Sugar, Salt & Spices
Making the mango salsa.
The mango salsa is the centerpiece of this meal. It’s what will tie the flavors of the cod and yellow rice together. Salsa is always great to make because you can add or omit ingredients that you like. You can make it special to you. I used the basics in mine.
Start by dicing the red onion, tomatoes, and peppers. Place all of those in a large bowl. Then dice or cube the mangoes and dump those in the bowl too. Rip off a bunch of cilantro leaves from the stems then cut those up too. Leave a few out for garnish and to add larger pieces to the salsa later!
Once you have all of the mangoes and vegetables in the bowl, add about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt (or salt to taste), and squeeze out half to a whole lemon. Stir all of that together, then add a teaspoon of sugar and stir that. I like to add the sugar last because sometimes the mango is sweet enough. Cover it with some plastic wrap and stick that goodness in the fridge.
Remember, you can make the salsa to taste so if you want it saltier, add salt accordingly. If you want it to be more sour, add more lemon and cilantro. If you want it sweeter, add more mango, sugar, or honey!
Preparing the cod fillets.
Cod is really easy to make. It’s a forgiving piece of meat that is mild enough to be an excellent choice to introduce seafood into your diet, without smelling like a sea side pier.
First, rinse off the outside of the cod fillets. If they still have the skin on them, you’ll want to slice that off. Doing so will reduce that fishy taste and smell. Then we’re going to make a spice paste to place on the cod.
Spicing it up.
Seasoning the cod fillets is also a matter of taste. I would suggest essential spices to add are salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, and red pepper. Mix all of those in a bowl with olive oil. It’ll sort of turn into this gooey paste. Make sure to add olive oil in segments so you don’t over do it. You don’t want it to be all liquid.
I like my cod to be a little spicy, so I add a lot more red pepper and paprika. The extra kick pairs with the sweetness of the mango salsa in a special way I can’t even articulate in this post.
Use a spoon or spatula to spread the spice paste on the cod fillets, covering them on both sides.
Sear and bake the cod fillets.
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. While that’s preheating, butter a pan and add some garlic with a pinch of salt. Bring that up to heat on the stove top and place the cod fillets in the pan. Sear them on both sides for about three minutes. You want the spice paste to crisp a little and the edges of the fillet to brown slightly.
Then place all of that goodness, fillets and all, in a baking pan and stick that in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. You can add some lemon juice at this point. I typically place some lemon slices or wedges in the baking pan.
Bake the cod until it’s done all the way through. The fillets should just flake with a fork. If they’re baked to long, you run the risk of drying them out a little. If that happens, it’s no big deal because we’ll be smothering them with the mango salsa later.
Plate it and serve!
You can’t tell me this doesn’t look delicious.
For this meal, I liked to serve it with yellow rice. I won’t go over how to cook rice, but I use a half a Goya packet to make it yellow. The color is a great complement to the fillets.
Make a bed of rice on the plate and place a cod fillet on top. Then cover the fillet and the rice with mango salsa and serve it! Believe me, your dinner guests won’t be disappointed!
