Folic acids are important to produce and maintain cells in our body. It can also prevent changes to DNA to prevent cancers. Enjoy this delicious and nutritious Mediterranean dish when you want to try something interesting but also benefits your whole body!

Ingredients


Cod - 1, 8 oz filet (or another low mercury fish or chicken) Brown_rice - ½ cup uncooked Water - 1 cup Chickpeas - 1 can (or your favorite bean) Spinach - 2 cups raw (or your favorite leafy green) Asparagus - 8 pieces (majority of folic acid in recipe but could swap for another high folic acid vegetable such as broccoli) Lemon - 1 small juiced Garlic - 1 teaspoon, powder Salt - 1 teaspoon Black_ground_pepper - 1 teaspoon Olive_oil - 1 Tablespoon Parsley - ¼ cup fresh

Instructions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 2
Cut lemon in half then slice two pieces; squeeze lemon juice from large half into the plastic bag.
Step 3
Add cod filet, ½ Tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground pepper, and ¼ cup fresh parsley to the plastic bag and let it sit in the fridge.
Step 4
Boil 1 cup of water in a small pot.
Step 5
Add ½ cup of rice and let simmer on low for ~20 minutes.
Step 6
Chop asparagus into 1 inch pieces.
Step 7
Place ½ Tablespoon olive oil, spinach, asparagus into a frying pan.
Step 8
Mix in ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon pepper with the vegetables.
Step 9
Cook asparagus and spinach on medium heat until spinach is cooked down and asparagus is soft.
Step 10
Lay a piece of tin foil on a baking sheet.
Step 11
Place cod on the tin foil, place the lemon slices on top of the cod, and wrap the cod in the tin foil.
Step 12
Put baking sheet in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes.
Step 13
In a medium bowl combine rice, spinach, asparagus, and chickpeas.
Step 14
Remove cod from oven and cut in half.
Step 15
Put half of the rice mixture and half of the cod on two separate plates.
Step 16
Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe was created to adhere to the nutrition needs of pregnant women. This meal contains ~200 mcg of folic acid or vitamin B9 which is equal to about half of the RDI for pregnant women which is about 400 mcg. This recipe includes cod which is a low-mercury fish meaning it is safe to consume during pregnancy. It is recommended that pregnant women consume 2-3 servings of fish per week. Cod is also high in Omega-3s which are essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are important for  your baby’s brain development. Iron is also important for fetal brain development. Spinach is high in iron, folate, and many other micronutrients so it is the perfect leafy-green to add to this meal. One thing to note is that this meal is somewhat high in vitamin A - it contains ~3,000 IU. It is important to limit vitamin A intake during pregnancy to under 10,000 IU per day since excessive intakes of vitamin A can lead to fetal birth defects.

Most, if not all, ingredients in this recipe can be found at the BMC food pantry. If the pantry does not have cod you can substitute it for another low-mercury fish such as salmon, flounder, Tilapia, hake, haddock, etc. Asparagus can be grown year-round and should be at the food pantry but if not then you can substitute it for broccoli which is another high folate vegetable.

 

Nutrition Information