Ever since Marisa posted Dr. Weil's six superfoods for 2006 a couple of weeks ago, Matt and I have been making an effort to eat more berries, buckwheat, black cod, sweet potatoes, turmeric, and walnuts.

We got into a kind of culinary competition to see who could come up with the best dish incorporating these ingredients. The pinnacle of my efforts was a croquette that combined smoked sable (aka black cod), mashed sweet potatoes, kasha (buckwheat groats), and toasted walnuts, topped with a blueberry BBQ sauce.

It turned out better than I could have hoped; as weird as it may sound, even the blueberry sauce was good. But my croquettes couldn't hold a candle to Matt's miso-marinated black cod served over buckwheat soba noodles. I wasn't familiar with black cod until Marisa blogged about it. Now that I've had it several times, I can say that it's far and away one of the best fish I've ever had (thanks, Marisa!). Once you taste it, you can see why it's sometimes called butterfish. The texture is deliciously dense and meaty, like monkfish, which I enjoy but can't buy in good conscience because it's on the “overfished list. “

The only downside to black cod is its price; Matt paid about $22 for a pound of black cod at Citarella. And you may encounter some confusion at the fish counter, as I did when I went to Whole Foods. Spotting a fish labeled “sable,” I asked for half a pound, and said, “that's the same thing as black cod, right?” to which the guy behind the counter shook his head and said, “No, we don't sell any black cod,” and then weighed my sable, and slapped on the bar-coded, printed label, which read “black cod.” On the plus side, Whole Foods' sable was a lot cheaper, about $14 a pound. However, the Whole Foods sable was previously frozen, unlike the black cod at Citarella, which was fresh.

Matt mixed up his miso marinade, coated the cod and left it in the fridge for several days before making his broth and broiling the cod. We had it with a side of mashed sweet potatoes, seasoned with turmeric, cinnamon and a bit of maple syrup, topped with toasted walnuts. For dessert, we had my superfood sorbet. How was everything? Superlative. How could it not be?

Matt's Miso-Marinated Black Cod in Broth Over Buckwheat Soba:

Serves two

For the cod:

1pound black cod fillet

6 tablespoons white miso paste

3 tablespoons mirin

nori flakes for garnish

Combine miso paste and mirin, coat the cod thoroughly and marinate 24 to 48 hours, turning at least once.

For the broth:

2 cups water

2 tablespoons bonito flakes

2 tablespoons ponzu sauce

1 tablespoon shoyu

1 tablespoon white miso paste (more if you'd like it sweeter)

1 strip kombu

dash of fish sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to the boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Strain and set aside.

Prepare the cod: Pre-heat broiler or toaster oven and place the fish on a broiler pan. Sprinkle with pepper (Matt used Urfa-Bibber, the smoky Turkish pepper, but plain old pepper will do). Broil for 8 to 12 minutes, till fillet turns golden brown. Remove from oven and gently divide in half.

To make the noodles:

1 8 ounce package buckwheat soba noodles

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Cook the noodles for 7 to 9 minutes, testing for doneness. Remove from stove and run under cold water. Just before serving, reheat by running under hot water.

To serve:

Place the noodles in bowls and pour the broth over them. Place the cod over the noodles and sprinkle with nori flakes. Serve immediately.