Originally my idea was to post a Foodie Friday.... then realized today was Saturday. So this week we are doing a Garden/Foodie Saturday post. It's a long one, but I just can't get over my greens this season! I mean come on! Is it just me that looks at romaine and sees the flower in it?
However, the romaine is for salad this week, the mutant Pak Choi (bok choy, bok choi, etc) is the real star of the day. My Asian cabbages went absolutely nuts over the past week and are now bigger than my head. Obviously, I'm not a fan of waste, so I immediately started researching recipes to take advantage of this HUGE harvest.
After much research I decided to do what I typically do, wing it and hope it's awesome. I can say that today's idea was a 100% win. Marinated baked cod over a bed of sauteed Pak Choi sprinkled with local goat cheese. I know it sounds unusual, especially for those of you who aren't familiar with mixing cheese and fish. Trust me on this one though. The cod is a great mild fish that retains its firmness and perfectly balances out the strong flavors of an Asian marinade while the creamy goat cheese gives a great counter texture to the crunchy greens.
I picked the Pak Choi this morning and after separating the stalks from the leaves, diced and chopped away while dancing around my kitchen to Imelda May and getting caught in the act by the painters outside my window. You are so welcome for the laugh sir painter. 
I made an incredibly simple marinade that I use constantly with local raw honey, low sodium soy, ground ginger, a dash of organic apple cider vinegar and a little sesame oil. (I never measure my ingredients for this, I just toss it together and taste. Usually I run with equal parts honey and soy, a tablespoon or two of ginger and a splash of the vinegar and oil.) This is literally good on everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. I left the cod in half of the marinade while preheating the oven to 450 F.
While the oven is preheating, go ahead and set a large saute pan or skillet on medium high heat. I only use stainless steel cookware, so I heat it dry then add a little oil right before adding the veggies. While the skillet is heating I tossed the diced stalks in the rest of the marinade. I hate soggy greens, so I always separate the greens from the stalks. It does take more time, but I find the texture much more appetizing then limp green goo.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper and place the cod fillets on top and put in oven and set the timer for 7-9 minutes. It doesn't take too long to cook these so I typically wait until I'm ready to throw the veggies in to place in oven.
Stand back (make sure your vent is on high for this, it WILL steam) and toss the stalks and marinade into the hot pan. Give it a little shimmy to keep it from sticking. I actually have no idea if this works but I feel like the Iron Chef when I do it so I constantly find myself shimmying away. Let it cook to crunchy tender and add the greens. You can cover to steam the greens a little faster, or just stir.
Once the greens reach your desired doneness go ahead and remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and plate. Arrange your now finished cod on top and sprinkle with goat cheese. I bought an amazing local jalapeno mango goat cheese this week and used that. Side note: a little goat cheese goes a long way, it is a strong flavor.
This pretty plate lasted about .05 seconds.Yes it was that good. In hindsight, I think I would skip the marinade portion with the cod, and let its natural flavor take the stage. The marinade is a strong flavor and worked perfectly with the greens. The goat cheese gave it this subtle tart taste and creamy perfection that really brought out the other flavors. This one is definitely going in the "To Make Again" pile.
Now, it's time to prepare and freeze the rest of the Pak Choi for soups and stews this winter!
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