Two people in my house love fish. Two people in my house think they don’t like fish, then try it. Then decide they love fish. They are preschoolers and do this every time.
One person may never love fish. Hint: He shaves.
When it comes to seafood, my husband is in the same camp as Jim Gaffigan, who says things like, “What is the difference between an anchovy and a sweaty eyebrow? Because whenever I see an anchovy, I think someone has attacked Tom Selleck.” Seriously, just look at his face here.
Not. Loving. The. Fish.
But for the rascals? There is hope.
Hope that they’ll continue to love eating fish. And this dinner is a delicious (and easy) step in that direction.
I got this original idea straight out of Parents magazine. Then I did my own things here and there.
Now it’s a dish of our own, and one that’ll be in regular rotation.
Here’s how you can make it too.
PrintCod with Lemon Orzo & Peas: A 15-Minute, One-Pot Dinner
Ingredients
- 2 cups orzo
- 1 pound frozen (or fresh) cod fillets
- 1 cup peas (or chopped spinach)
- 2 lemons: zest and juice one lemon, slice the other to serve with the meal
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper (a few cracks of fresh pepper will do the trick)
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs such as thyme, basil, mint or a combination, cut finely
Instructions
- Using a colander insert, fill a large pasta pot with water and bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook according to directions, about 9 minutes. Pull up the colander insert, draining the orzo but KEEP THE COOKING WATER. Place the fish into the water and cook for about 4 minutes. Add peas during last 2 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the lemon seasoning.
- Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs. I like to do this in the bottom of the serving dish I’ll eventually be using. Whisk together. Combine with orzo as soon as it’s out of the water. Let the juices soak in.
- When fish and peas (or spinach) are ready, gently combine everything on the platter. Use one lemon slice to squirt over the top of the dish, then set the rest on the side of the platter for everyone to grab along with a serving of pasta.
PS. We’ll probably need to follow it with steak night. Because, harmony. I live with someone who said, “YES! Exactly! when I shared this quote from, you guessed it, Jim Gaffigan: “The best compliment you can give fish is to say it’s not fishy.”
Don’t forget to like Foodlets on Facebook and sign up for our newsletter (at the top of this page) so you’ll never miss a simple recipe or tip.
And if you’ve tested out this recipe, what do you think? Let us know! I’d love all the details too:
- How many kids do you have?
- How easy was this dish to prepare?
- What did the kids say? Thumbs Up, Middle, or Down?
- Would you make it again?
This was very easy and very flavorful. The little one actually ate all of the cod she was served.
Age 6 – Thumbs up at first but then she thought it was too sour/lemony and changed her vote to thumbs middle. She did ask for seconds, though.
Age 3 (almost!) – Thumbs up. She wouldn’t try the cod at first, but then I told her it was the same fish as in fish fillets and fish sticks and she gladly tried it and ate all that was on her plate. She ate about half of the orzo and peas and tried to tell me that it was too sour after the 6yo changed her mind. I didn’t believe her, though, because she was sitting there happily eating a lemon slice as well.
Adult #1 – Thumbs up/middle. He couldn’t decide on his vote. Like the 6yo, he doesn’t like things that are very lemony. He did eat a second helping, though.
Adult #2 – Thumbs up. Lemon, pasta, peas, fish, yum.
Like I said, this was definitely easy to prepare. Next time, though, I think I would half the orzo and all of the ingredients in the seasoning/dressing. I might even do a little less lemon juice for the big kid. Oh, another thing that was fun is that we usually don’t have the serving dish on the table with us because our table is too small. I went ahead and had it there in the middle of the table, and I think the kids enjoyed being served at the table. We’ll try to do that more often.
We all love lemony dinners at this address. Lemon + olive oil + pasta = yum. My husband loved it, and my sons are teens now, so anything I make that’s edible seldom has leftovers
It was one of the fastest dinners I’ve made in a long time. The only snag was that I don’t have a crucial piece of equipment: the stockpot with pasta insert. To compensate, I watched the timer carefully and added first the cod and then the peas to the pasta as it was cooking. I did make sure both cod and peas were a bit warmer than room temperature (microwave) before I added them to the boiling water, because I didn’t want to slow down the boil for too long.
I’m making a variation tonight with boneless chicken thighs. I’m going to cut strips of meat and saute them rather than boil them in the pasta water, then add the meat to the lemony dressing along with the rest. Maybe the dish will even benefit from the flavor of the browning?
Thank you, Charity Curley Mathews, for this recipe and this blog. We’ve enjoyed many of your recipes. This particular one has saved my sanity on crazy days, and I make sure to keep the ingredients on hand.
This is the nicest comment I’ve read in ages. THANK YOU for your sweet words AND your smart suggestions. I’d love to hear how everything turns out! (And I’ll try that method for sure.)