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Baked Cod with Tomatoes, Olives and Butter Beans

Cod is mild and flaky, so it needs a sauce with some punch. Here the fillets steam gently on top of tomatoes, butter beans, olives and capers, all in one pan. Do not overcook it: take it out the moment the fish turns opaque and flakes.

Dinner

40

Serves 4

Baked cod fillets on a tomato sauce with butter beans, black olives, capers and spinach in a pan, with lemon and parsley

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika and a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained and rinsed (about 470g)
  • 50g pitted black olives, rinsed and halved
  • 1 tbsp capers, rinsed
  • 100g baby spinach
  • 4 skinless cod fillets (about 140g each), or another firm white fish
  • 1 lemon: juice of half, the rest in wedges
  • A handful of parsley, chopped

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan). Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan or shallow casserole over a medium heat.
  2. Cook the onion and pepper for 8 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, paprika and chilli and stir for 1 minute.
  3. Add the tomatoes, butter beans, olives, capers and 100ml water. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in the spinach until wilted. Season with black pepper; the olives and capers bring plenty of salt.
  4. Pat the cod dry, season lightly and nestle the fillets into the sauce. Squeeze over the lemon juice.
  5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on thickness, until the fish is opaque all the way through and flakes easily with a fork.
  6. Scatter with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. It needs nothing else, but some crusty bread is good for the sauce.

Why it works

A serving has about 35g of protein for under 350 calories, which makes it a lean, filling dinner. Cod is a white fish, very low in fat, and the butter beans add more protein and most of the 9g of fibre.

Why it keeps you full. Lots of protein and fibre with a modest amount of carbohydrate is a good combination for steady blood sugar. That is why this is tagged for blood sugar, and why it suits anyone trying to lose weight without feeling hungry. See losing weight around menopause.

The NHS recommends at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily. Cod is not an oily fish, so pair it with salmon, mackerel or sardines on another day. Look for cod with the MSC blue label, which shows it comes from a certified sustainable fishery.

The tomatoes, pepper and spinach make this at least two of your 5 a day, and cooking tomatoes with olive oil helps your body absorb their lycopene.

The honest part is the salt. Olives and capers are salty, so there is no added salt in the sauce. Rinsing both helps. For another one-pan dinner with beans, try the chicken, butter bean and kale one-pot.