Broiled Black Cod, Muffaletta Style

How do you cook when you’re cooking just for yourself? Do you really cook a whole meal from scratch when it’s just for you? I actually do. One of the reasons I like cooking is because I’m picky. For me, getting to cook just what I want, exactly the way I want, is fun. So, I was already completely on board with the premise of Anita Lo’s latest book Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One of which I received a review copy. This book is devoted to cooking, and cooking really well, for one. It’s about taking care of yourself and making a great meal to enjoy on your own. And, the dishes have signature Anita Lo flavors with lots of Asian and French influences. There’s a nice focus on not wasting any part of the ingredients you use, and none of the dishes take too long to prepare. Of course, they all scale up easily and can be used to cook for more than one. The Shaved Root Vegetable Salad with Smoked Salmon, Capers, and an Egg sounds delicious and would be bright and colorful with a variety of vegetables jumbled together on the plate. For Fresh Pasta with Anchovies, Charred Lemons and Radish, you’ll spend a bit more time if you make homemade pasta, but the dish is made from pantry ingredients and could be whipped up without much planning. The Thai White Curry with Chicken is an adaptable dish that can be made with other proteins and whatever vegetables are in season. And, there’s a note with this recipe about using the remaining amount of coconut milk in Caramelized Banana with Coconut for dessert. Another waste-reducing dish is the Broccoli Stem Slaw that sounds delicious with an avocado and anchovy paste. I kept marking pages for salads, and one more that I want to try is the Kale Salad with Dates and Tahini Dressing. The complete instructions for this salad are: “Mix everything together. That’s it. Then eat it.” Love that. But, when I saw the Broiled Bluefish, Muffaletta Style recipe, I had to start there. I’m a sucker for a briny olive salad. 

For this dish, I cooked for two. Luckily, Kurt likes most of the things I like, and this was as easy to make for two as for one. We don’t get bluefish here, so I used black cod instead. The fish was simply broiled, after being brushed with oil and seasoned, skin side up. The olive salad was made with a mix of olives including Kalamata and pimento-stuffed, giardinera, garlic, minced anchovy or anchovy paste, capers, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and fresh oregano. I added some chopped artichoke hearts and skipped the cubed bread. I was happy to use some homegrown oregano since it’s still going strong and threatening to take over my herb garden. Chopped Calabrian chiles are suggested, and I wish I could have found some. I added crushed red chiles instead. The olive salad was mixed and placed in the center of the plate. The broiled fish fillets were placed on top. 

All the assertive flavors in the olive salad paired so well with the flaky fish. I regretted not making extra olive salad to leave in the refrigerator for snacking with crackers or layering into sandwiches. This book offers a lot of great ideas for putting delicious food on the table in smart ways. Whether you’re cooking for one or several, you’ll be treating yourself and others well, cooking your own balanced meals, and keeping waste to a minimum. 

Broiled Bluefish Muffaletta Style 
Excerpted from Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One by Anita Lo. Copyright © 2018 by Anita Lo. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher

for the bluefish 
One 5- ounce filet bluefish, skin on 
1 teaspoon olive oil 
Salt and black pepper 

for the olive salad 
Scant 1/4 cup pitted Niçoise or Kalamata olives 
Scant 1/4 cup pimiento- stuffed queen olives 
Scant 1/4 cup giardiniera (Italian jarred pickled vegetables), drained and roughly chopped 
1/2 clove garlic, chopped 
1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste 
1 tablespoon drained capers 
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 
2 tablespoons extra- virgin olive oil 
1/2 teaspoon chopped Calabrian chili condiment (optional) 
3 leaves fresh oregano, chopped (substitute a small pinch of dried oregano if you don’t have fresh) 
6 cubes day- old plain baguette (optional) 
Salt and black pepper to taste 

Preheat your oven or toaster oven to broil. Rub the bluefish with the teaspoon of olive oil on both sides and season both sides with salt and pepper. Place skin side up on an ovenproof tray, close to the heat source, and cook until skin is lightly browned and crisp and the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes, depending on thickness. Use a cake tester or thin knife to test doneness—insert it into the thickest part of the filet, hold there for a solid 3 seconds, then test immediately on your lip. If it is warm the touch, the fish is done.

To make the olive salad, mix the ingredients together, taste, and adjust seasonings. To serve, make a bed of the olive salad and place the fish on top.

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Tamarind-Glazed Black Cod with Habanero-Orange Salsa

When I saw this glazed black cod recipe in the June issue of Bon Appetit, the title alone convinced me to try it. There’s a glaze that’s basted onto the fish while it broils, and then the fish is topped with a spicy, fruity salsa before serving. I do so enjoy a spicy, fruity salsa with fish, and a glaze involving tamarind was intriguing as well. Happily, black cod, also called sablefish, is a best choice on Seafood Watch. It’s a mild, white-fleshed fish, and halibut would also have worked here, and now that I’ve tasted the glaze and salsa, I think I’d like to try them with salmon too. The glaze is thick like barbecue sauce, and the tamarind adds a sour, tangy side to the mix of smoky, earthy, and sweet flavors.

Ancho chiles were rehydrated and then pureed with orange juice, honey, garlic, tamarind concentrate, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. The puree was strained into a saucepan and then simmered until thickened. The glaze and the salsa can be made in advance making this a very quick dish to prepare at the last minute. The salsa included a seeded and finely chopped habanero, orange segments, cilantro, red onion, and red wine vinegar and olive oil. The fish was broiled for a few minutes on each side before the glaze was basted onto the top. It went back under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the glaze was bubbly hot.

I like a quick and easy fish preparation using the broiler, but this would also be delicious, if slightly more time-consuming, cooked on the grill. The salsa was perfect for topping fish, and mango in place of orange would be another route to take with it. But, the tamarind glaze was the key element here. I’ll be using that again and again for fish, and it would be great brushed onto tofu or used as a sauce for barbecue chicken.

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