I have been experimenting with different fish and shellfish recipes lately because of all of their many, many healthy benefits. You’ve seen some of the shrimp recipes we have eaten lately that were good enough to share, but for some reason every cod recipe I was trying did not work out the way I hoped, so I have spared you from those flops.

I am happy to say that this cod recipe was a win. I should warn you up front that if you don’t like mayonnaise this recipe is not for you, but if you like creamy spreads with fish you will love this one. We ate ours with carrots and broccoli and I thought it went great together.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe in the Taste of Home 5 10 20 Cookbook.

Health benefits of cod fish.

First, let’s talk for a quick minute about why we are trying to make cod a part of our diet in the Hughes household. There are so many health benefits of fish, in general. Cod fish is packed with the vitamins and nutrients that your body craves and eating it regularly can actually help prevent some diseases and sicknesses. According to Symptom Find, here are a few reasons to add cod to your diet…

Cod fish offers these vitamins and nutrients:

• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B3
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D
• Protein
• Omega 3
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Tryptophan
• Selenium

Cod fish could reduce or prevent these Diseases and Sicknesses:

• Atherosclerosis
• Heart disease
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• High cholesterol
• High triglyceride levels
• Thrombosis
• Pulmonary embolism
• Cancer (e.g. colon cancer)
• Leukemia
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Multiple myeloma

Eating cod for mental health.

For me, personally, mental health is an area I need to focus my attention on since I was diagnosed with a mental illness a few years ago. The omega 3 fatty acids in cod can actually help reduce depression and stress!

So, what do you think? With all of these health benefits will you give cod fish a try?

Which mayonnaise is Weight Watcher friendly?

My favorite mayonnaise is Hellman’s light mayonnaise. It tastes great and I don’t feel like I am eating a diet version of the real thing. When putting the ingredients into the WW recipe builder this is the mayonnaise I used because I knew it would taste good, but it is kind of the “in-between” mayonnaise when it comes to smart points. There are other mayonnaise options that are even lower in smart points.

I have not tried this recipe with these other types of mayonnaise, but I thought they were worth mentioning. If you replace the light mayonnaise with Kraft fat-free mayonnaise the smart points per serving goes down from 4 WW FreeStyle SP to 3 WW FreeStyle SP.

(Take a look at this mayonnaise smart points comparison chart. This chart shows how many Weight Watcher smart points 1/2 cup of each mayonnaise is worth. There is quite a big difference, isn’t there?)

**Update added on 4/7/17… Kraft LITE mayo (not mentioned above) is 9 WW SP for 1/2 cup.**

Walden Farms makes a zero smart point mayonnaise, (that you can see in the chart above) which would make this recipe just 1 WW FreeStyle Smart Point per serving. I have not tried this one either, so I can’t promise anything about the way it tastes. If anyone tries this recipe with fat-free mayo or the Walden Farms mayo let us know how it turns out. I would love to know!

Here is what you need:

4 (4 oz. each) cod fillets
2/3 c. light mayonnaise
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. green onion, chopped (about 1-2 green onions)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place wire rack on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet or stoneware bar pan.  If you do not have a wire rack you can put the cod directly on the parchment paper. (Parchment paper is used to make clean-up easy.)

Spray the wire rack with cooking spray.

In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise with the Parmesan cheese, onions, and Worcestershire sauce.

Place cod fillets on the wire rack or parchment paper.

Coat the fillets with the mayonnaise spread. Flip fillets and coat the other side with the mayonnaise spread. Coat generously. (Side-note: I tried cooking the cod on the wire rack and without the rack, just to see what worked better. There wasn’t a huge difference, but the fillets on the rack did not fall apart when trying to transfer them to the plate, while the fillet directly on the parchment paper stuck a little to the paper and fell apart a little. The taste was basically the same.)

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the spread is slightly browned on top. Serve warm with steamed vegetables.

Makes 4 servings.
One serving is 4 ounces cod fillet topped with mayo spread.
One serving is 6 green, 5 blue, and 5 purple points.

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*SmartPoints® calculated by Meal Planning Mommies; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated without Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.