A super tasty, flavorful and fresh dish made with tender oven roasted cod back fillet, blanched spinach, crunchy vegetables and rice. This dish is easy and surprisingly effortless to make. It is great to make both for an easy weeknight meal or a festive weekend dinner. It is both gluten and dairy free.
This dish includes a tender and mouth melting oven baked chili – lime & honey seasoned cod fillet, blanched spinach, crunchy vegetables, rice and a fresh and tasty sauce. With a lovely mix of fresh, flavorful and slightly spicy flavors with tender, soft and crunchy textures this dish is divine and mouth melting. It is also easy to adapt according to food and taste preferences. Adjust the seasoning depending on how spicy you prefer your food and make it low carb by swapping the rice for cauliflower rice or purée. This dish is great to make both for a weeknight meal or festive and tasty weekend dinner. It is both gluten and dairy free and can easily be served low carb by swapping the rice.
A few tips:
- Use good quality cod back fillets that are thick and of good quality. They’re the main star of the dish, hence you don’t want the thin tasteless ones that easily get over baked and dry.
- I used chili oil for the cod seasoning. If you don’t have chili oil you can mix regular oil and crushed chili flakes.
- The amount of chili oil can be adjusted according to how spicy you prefer your food. Use a little less chili oil/chili flakes (if using regular oil).
- I used toasted sesame seeds since they add a lovely nutty flavor and crunchy texture to the dish. If you don’t have toasted sesame seeds you can toast them yourself.
- I prefer to bake my cod on a slightly lower temperature because it turns out more tender and juicy. It takes slightly longer time, but assures the fish will turn out tender and mouth melting.
- Baking the cod takes about 14-18 minutes depending on how big and thick they are. If you have a cooking thermometer use it and bake until the cod reaches 51-52 degrees Celsius.
- Blanch the spinach for no more than 30 seconds, then strain and run under cold water immediately.
- You can use any rice of your liking or make this dish low carb by using cauliflower rice or purée.
Ingredients for this Chili Lime Cod with Spinach & Rice:
- Cod back fillets
- Chili oil (or regular oil + chili flakes)
- Lime
- Honey, fiber syrup or agave
- Sea salt
- Rice
- Fresh spinach
- Garlic
- Red chili
- Scallion
- Sugar snaps
- Fresh cilantro
- Furikake seasoning
- Light soy sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Sesame oil
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Fresh ginger
- Salt
- Black pepper
Other recipes you might like:
- Spicy Chili & Honey Salmon with Crunchy Vegetables (Gluten, Grain, Dairy Free & Low Carb)
- Miso Fish with Bok Choy (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Asian Style Salmon Salad
- Spicy Shrimp Pineapple Tacos (Gluten Free)
- Mango Ceviche with Mixed Fish & Seafood (Gluten, Grain, Oil Free & Low Carb)
- Asian Style Salmon Tacos (Gluten & Dairy Free)
- Thai Inspired Pomelo & Shrimp Salad (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Spicy Prawn Bites (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Seared Tuna Steak with Spicy Sweet Potato Mash (Gluten, Grain & Dairy Free)
- Salmon Red Curry (Dairy & Oil Free)
- Spicy Scallops with Brussel Sprouts & Shiitake (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Asian Style Tuna Steak (Paleo, Keto & Low Carb)
- Asian Style Fish Package (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Spicy Shrimp Salad (Gluten, Grain Free & Low Carb)
- Bánh Xèo – Crispy Vietnamese Pancakes (Gluten Free)
Chili Lime Cod with Spinach & Rice (Gluten & Dairy Free)
This tender oven baked chili lime cod served with blanched spinach and rice is a tasty, fresh and easy dish that is just as good to make for a weeknight meal or weekend dinner.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 Cod back fillets
- 1/4 tbsp Chili oil (or oil + chili flakes combined)
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 1/2 tbsp Honey, fiber syrup or agave
- A pinch of Sea salt
- 4 servings Rice (any rice you like)
- 200 g Fresh spinach
- 2 Garlic clove minced
- 1 Red chili thinly sliced
- 1 Scallion thinly sliced
- 10-12 Sugar snaps thinly sliced
- Fresh cilantro
- 1 Lime cut into wedges
- Furikake seasoning or toasted sesame seeds
For the sauce
- 6 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Lime juice
- 1/2 tsp Honey, fiber syrup or agave
- 3 tsp Sesame oil
- 2 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds
- 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp Fresh ginger grated
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
- Cook the rice according to instruction.
- Combine chili oil, lime juice, honey and sea salt in a small bowl.
- Place the cod back fillets in an oven safe baking dish and brush with the chili lime sauce. Place in the oven and bake at for 14-20 minutes, until they reach an inner temperature of 51-52 degrees Celsius. Turn on the broiler for 30-60 seconds at the end to get some color (if needed and desired).
- Meanwhile bring water to a boil with some salt in a pot. Add the spinach to the pot and boil for about 30 seconds.
- Remove the pot and place a pan with some oil in it instead.
- Strain through a colander and immediately run under cold water. Let cool for a few minutes then strain well removing as much excess water as possible.
- Add the minced garlic to the pan, fry for 30-60 seconds. Then add the spinach. Stir to combine. Fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Meanwhile combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Place spinach in a bowl and combine with about half of the sauce. Save the rest for serving.
- Divide rice and spinach between bowls. Add a piece of cod fillet to each bowl. Top with sliced chili, scallion, sugar snaps, cilantro, lime wedges and furikake seasoning. Serve with remaining sauce.