This fish was made for a special reason.

One of my BFFs from Loyola, Ian, still lives in Baltimore and we hang out a lot. Partly because we’ve been good friends since freshman year, and partially because he happens to live with the GS. In fact, he’s the GS’s landlord, better known as “slumlord”.

One of Ian’s favorite pastimes is telling stories about occasions when I’ve been particularly bitchy or sassy. These stories are only true about 75% of the time. He also likes to tell people about the time I stole his car during college.. we’ll save that one for another day.

Ian’s dad recently moved to Maryland, too. His dad is awesome. He used to visit a lot during college and he would come to Craig’s, which is a disgusting hole of bar that, for some reason, we thought was really cool and exclusive. He was a trooper.

His dad had a heart attack recently. We were all really nervous because he’s such a great guy and SO active. In fact, he said it happened after the best spin class of his life. Luckily he’s going to be fine. A bunch of us decided to go out and visit him, and I offered to bring a dinner that complied with his new heart healthy diet. Hence, this fish.

Lemony Baked Cod

serves 8

3 lbs wild-caught cod filets

3 lemons

2 cloves garlic

2 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper

diced scallions

This is so simple! Cut the filets into 6 ounce portions. I say this as if I had my scale out- I guestimated.

Drizzle the fish with a little bit of olive oil. Juice and zest two of the lemons over the top, then season with salt and pepper. (I didn’t use a ton of salt here- keeping it low sodium). Use your microplane to grate some garlic over the top. Sprinkle your diced scallions over the top, then slice the third lemon thinly and place on top of the fish.

This is the only picture I took because I was otherwise occupied being a hostess in someone else’s home. One of my favorite hobbies.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes until the fish is opaque and flaky.

Super healthy while still having great flavor, I promise. I served it with steamed asparagus and roasted potatoes, with these cookies for dessert.

Mr. B said “If I knew this is what it would take for you guys to come see my house, I would have had the heart attack sooner.”

You can see why we want to take good care of him.