Hake with vegetable noodles...

I'm a bit weird when it comes to fish... I don't like the bones, feel or smell of it! Strange that I happen to actually love eating it..

I had never tasted hake before this, and probably never would have if it weren't for the very friendly guy in the fishmongers who decided to give me a piece to try. I can't take credit for this recipe... it was his suggestion (except for the veggie noodles... blame me for those). You can also blame me for the unimaginative naming of the dish... thankfully I don't work in marketing!

For the hake:

• Hake fillet (or white fish of your choice)
• 3 tbsp organic coconut milk
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• sea salt
• dried chilli flakes
• cherry tomatoes

Place fish skin side down on a large piece of tin foil.
In a small bowl, mix coconut milk with garlic, ginger, chilli and lime.
Pour over fish, and season with sea salt and black pepper.

Place tomatoes alongside fish, and wrap tin foil loosely to lock in the steam and juices as it bakes.
Bake in preheated oven (170d) until fish is just opaque. (15 minutes should be enough, depending on the thickness of fish)

Vegetable noodles:

You can choose whatever vegetables you fancy for this, but I used parsnip, carrot, aubergine and courgette.

Using a wide vegetable peeler if you don't have a slicing attachment for your food processor, slice each vegetable into long noodle-like strips.

Add 1/2 tsp of coconut oil, a pinch of salt, and some more chilli flakes to a wok.
Add your veggie noodles, and cook over a high heat until cooked but still holding their shape. This will only take 3/4 minutes.

Serve your fish on a bed of vegetable noodles, and drizzle some of the baking juices & coconut milk over the top. This dish only takes about 30 minutes and is really inexpensive, so yet again... no excuses :)

Fish and chips in 30 minutes...

Yep.. you can still have fish and chips!

I was never a fan of the traditional grease laden fish and chips from a takeaway, so I can't say it's something I've missed from my diet. A friend was calling round for lunch, and said they fancied fish and chips.....that meant one of two things, they were either going to have to go to a takeaway alone, or be disappointed! I like looking after people... it's probably one of the things I do best. I would hate to disappoint, so I set out to make grown up fish and chips for our lunch...Believe me, they weren't disappointed and this will definitely be added to my growing repertoire of favourite dishes..

I love meals that are quick and simple to make...they're vital tools in an argument with someone who says that they just don't have the time to cook healthy food. Cook this once for a friend who is 'too busy' too cook, or for fussy children who only ask for processed fish fingers and chips for dinner, and they'll never go back to the freezer aisle for fish fingers!

Fish bites: 

• salmon darnes (or any fish of your choice)
• almond flour (or ground almonds from the baking aisle)
• dessicated coconut
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• pinch of sea salt
• coconut oil

Start by cutting fish into bite size pieces. 

Place a few tablespoons of almond flour and dessicated coconut on a plate with 1 teaspoon of lime zest & sea salt and toss together. 

Start by rolling each piece of fish in the almond flour mix, coating lightly. 

Next dip in lime juice (you want a thick coating on eat bite, so the juice will help it stick & add flavour...you can use lemon, egg or coconut milk for this step depending on what type of flavour you want)

Roll each piece of fish in the almond flour mixture again until well coated. 

Place on baking tray, and drizzle with a little melted coconut oil.

Sweet potato chips: 

• sweet potato (you can peel it if you prefer, but I like the crispy texture the skin gives the chips)
• chilli flakes
• sea salt 
• coconut oil

Slice sweet potato into chips. 

Drizzle with melted coconut oil and sprinkle with chilli and sea salt. 

Place on baking tray with the salmon bites as they'll take about the same length of time to cook. (If you've made thick chips, place these in the oven 10 minutes before the fish bites to avoid overcooking the fish) 

Place in preheated oven (170d) and bake until fish and chips are golden and crispy (15-20 minutes)

Serve with peas and some homemade chilli & lime dipping sauce. (Just mix tomato paste, lime juice, chilli flakes, crushed garlic and sea salt together... this is very much down to personal taste so add a little of each at a time until you like the flavour)

This was a really delicious lunch, and it took only 30 mins between preparation and cooking time...I'm pretty sure it would take longer to cook frozen fish and chips, or go to the takeaway! Besides, if you can't find the time in your day to may sure you're eating food to maintain your health, then you really need to look at your priorities...