Excerpted from Dig In!: Over 100 Easy, Delicious, and Stress-Free Recipes to Make on Repeat. Copyright © 2026, Erin O’Brien. Photography Copyright © 2026 by Matt Armendariz. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
By Carolyn Worthington
Everyone around me knows that when it comes to cooking, I lean toward recipes with a French twist. Having attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, worked in a pastry shop in Lyon, and served as an observatrice at the Plaza Athénée in Paris, I have the basics of French cooking in my soul.
But I love trying new cookbooks, no matter what their style. I’ll skim through new books and try a recipe or two, but it’s not often that I find one that becomes a go-to cookbook. Over the past few months, I’ve found two.
Both are from Simon Element, and both are fabulous. That’s high praise from someone who has hundreds of cookbooks on her shelves.
They are Dig In!, by Erin O’Brien, and More Please!, by Rachel Mansfield.
Here’s one recipe from Dig In! to tantalize your tastebuds:
One-Pan Sicilian Baked Cod with Roasted Tomatoes & Olives
Makes 4 servings
- ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 (6-ounce) cod fillets, about 1 inch thick
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes (about 12 ounces), halved
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup halved kalamata olives
- ¼ cup dry white wine (I use Sauvignon Blanc)
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon drained capers
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about one lemon), for serving
- Fresh torn basil, for garnish
- Fresh torn mint, for garnish
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of the salt, ½ teaspoon of the black pepper, the garlic powder, smoked paprika, and oregano.
Place the fish on a plate and pat dry. Sprinkle the reserved spice mixture all over the fillets and pat to stick to the fish. Set aside.
In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, add the tomatoes, onion, olives, wine, garlic, oil, capers, crushed red pepper, and the remaining ½ tea-spoon each of salt and black pepper. Toss to combine.
Bake until the tomatoes start to wrinkle and release their juice, 20 minutes.
Make a space for the fish in the center of the baking dish and place the fish directly on the bottom of the dish surrounded by the vegetables. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork (see Hot Tips).
TO SERVE: Divide the roasted vegetables among four plates and top with fish. Sprinkle the lemon juice over each plate, garnish with the torn basil and mint, and serve with lemon wedges.
HOT TIPS When cooking fish, an opaque color signals doneness, along with the flake test: Insert a fork into the thickest part of the fish and pull away at an angle to see if it flakes, indicating a perfect cook. Or use a meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 140° to 145°F.
Halibut or sea bass also work great; just adjust bake time depending on the fillet’s thickness.
Excerpted from Dig In!: Over 100 Easy, Delicious, and Stress-Free Recipes to Make on Repeat. Copyright © 2026, Erin O’Brien. Photography Copyright © 2026 by Matt Armendariz. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
