Pan Fried Cod with olive and pepper sauce

This is a great way to cook cod fish, so that you don't know that you are eating cod fish! Very flavourful, with a little zing from the spices and lime. I served this with sauteed onions, mushrooms and spinach. This recipe serves 2 but can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:

2 boneless cod fillets, fresh or thawed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup of green olives, chopped
1/4 cup of roasted red peppers (from a jar), chopped
1 tbsp picante hot sauce 
freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp lime zest and juice of 1/2 a lime

1/2 cup low fat, low sodium chicken stock
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Directions:

In a large non-stick frying pan heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then gently sear fish on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Remove fish from pan and set aside.

2. Add green olives, roasted red peppers, lime zest, hot sauce and stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and return fish to pan, cover and cook on medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes.

3. Remove fish and keep warm. Turn heat to high and reduce sauce by half, about 2 minutes.

4. Remove from heat, stir in ground pepper, parsley and lime juice and generously spoon sauce over fish.

Chicken Fennel Carrot White Bean Soup

This is a great, tasty soup for a cool autumn dinner. Soak up the juices with a crusty artisan bread. Delicious and so easy! Just toss everything in one pot, cover and cook on low for 7 hours. To speed up the cooking time, you can increase the heat to medium low and cook for about 5 hours.

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (they stay juicier than breasts in this type of recipe)
4 cups low sodium, low fat chicken broth
4 cups water
4 carrots, chopped
1 large fennel bulb, chopped (including the fronds)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, peeled and flattened (just bang it under a wide knife to let the flavours out as the soup cooks---remember to remove it before serving the soup)
1 small jar fire roasted red peppers, including liquid (that is where a lot of the flavour is)
1 can (28 oz) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large dutch oven with a heavy lid, combine all ingredients, except the jar of peppers and beans. Heat on medium until just beginning to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 7 hours, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
2. Remove chicken from pot about 20 minutes before serving (take the garlic clove out at this point as well and discard it). Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and return to pot, along with the beans and jar of peppers. Cook on low, covered, for another 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Serve with the bread.