We wanted to share this blog post by our friend and sharemember, Heather Atwood, which chronicles her adventures in an alternating fish share. Heather receives whole fish one week and fillets the other. We understand that cooking with whole fish is, at times, daunting. It’s also incredibly healthy, delicious and sustainable. Heather’s post, Whole Fish: Thursday Cod and Friday Salad, is both honest and entertaining. The recipe looks great too!

Find more of heather’s recipes and food chronicles on her blog, Food for Thought, or her column for the Gloucester Daily Times under the same name.

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Thursday afternoons I pick up my Cape Ann Fresh Catch Share, the fisherman’s version of a Community Supported Agriculture.

A Fresh Catch share holder has a choice of being brave or safe:  you can choose to receive a whole fish or you can choose – ahem – fillets.  Or you can waffle, as I do, alternating weeks of whole fish with fillets.  For some reason, every time I sign up for my share, I think fillets are for whusses.  But, on a Thursday evening the only words worse than, “whole fish today, Heather!” are “Mom, what’s for dinner – I’m hungry!”

Roasted Cod with Cilantro Salsa and Cod Salad with Wheatberries, Spinach and Lime

Ingredients

• 2 small whole cod
• 1 inch knob of ginger, grated
• 1 orange – juice and grated peel
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• a pinch red pepper flakes

Cilantro Salsa

• 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted first if possible
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 pound spinach
• 1 1/2 cups wheatberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a roasting pan with foil.

Rinse fish well, and remove head and tail, simply chopping off each.  Lay fish in the pan.  Stir together dressing, and pour over fish.  Roll and rub so that all is covered.  Roast for 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes when the skin is poked.  Raise oven temperature to broil, and broil the skin for a crispy finish.  We didn’t eat the skin, but it was more attractive, and guaranteed the flesh was cooked.

To serve, simply divide the fish into pieces, depending on the size.  Cut right through the spine, so that each serving is a cross section of the whole fish.  The meat falls away easily from the bone.  Yes, the plate remains are messy – lots of skin and bones – but the flavor in the meat is worth it.

To make the salsa, simply stir all ingredients together and serve on top of the fish.

To make the salad, prepare the wheatberries according to the directions.  Sautee the spinach in 1 tablespoon of butter with salt and pepper added at the end.  Gently mix together flaked fish, wheatberries, spinach, salsa, and the marinade left from the roasting pan.