Spiced Cod on a Warm Leek, Mushroom and French Lentil Salad

Ingredients
- 2 cups dried French Lentils
- 4 pieces of fresh wild Cod - rinsed
- ½ tbsp avocado oil (or oil of choice)
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1.5 large leek (white part only) - finely sliced (approx. 1 cup)
- 2.5 tbsp. fresh chopped thyme (or 1.5 tbsp.dried)
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1.5 tsp salt
- ½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
- 1 cup cremini brown mushrooms - sliced
- 1 cup oyster mushrooms - chopped
- 3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 3tbsp. seedy Dijon mustard
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- For the fish (per fish fillet)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp caraway seeds
- course ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse lentils and add them to a pot with salted water (3 cups of water to 1 cup of lentils) & 3 whole sprigs of thyme. (See my blog post on this recipe for more info on soaking lentils!)
- Let it come to a full boil then turn down the heat so a calm boil remains and cook for 20-25 minutes or until your desired consistency is met.
- While you are cooking your lentils, in a large sauté pan add your leeks to heated oil, garlic, fresh thyme, paprika, salt & pepper and sauté over medium heat for approximately 8-10 minutes until the leeks soften.
- Add your chopped mushrooms, sauté another 5-8 minutes until your mushrooms begin to soften. Add the Dijon mustard and lemon juice, mix well, then add the vegetable stock and allow it to simmer and develop the flavours.
- Your lentils should be done, strain and add them to your mushroom/leek mix, mix in well.
- Rinse and pat dry the cod and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika and caraway seeds.
- Make room in your pan and add your cod directly onto the heated pan over medium heat, cook cod for about 4-5 minutes per side or until opaque and flaking. You can cook your cod in a separate pan if you desire, but I'm all about less dishes... remove your cooked cod then dish out desired amount of warm lentil salad into a bowl and top off with cod.