Gills on top

I WOULD HATE TO HAVE TO CHOOSE between giving up meat or fish but, much as I love meat, ultimately I know I couldn't live without fish. It is so wonderful to cook with. For example, you wouldn't automatically think of orange as a flavour that complements cod but, believe me, it is very good, along with the onions, mint and soy sauce that are also in today's recipe. It has the added benefit of being extremely good for us, as it is low in fat as well as in calories.

The second recipe is for filleted, organically grown salmon, steam-baked with gremolata. This is also a healthy option. Salmon, like cod, herring, sardines, mackerel and halibut, is rich in omega 3 oil.

My final recipe uses smoked haddock in a rich and creamy stew scented with saffron strands and containing young spinach leaves. It can't be thought of as low in calories, but it is full of calcium. And it tastes so good. It is also that convenient kind of dish where the protein – the smoked haddock – is cooked in one pot with the vegetables.

All three recipes are good served with very well beaten mashed potatoes – or, if you prefer, with boiled basmati rice.

BAKED COD WITH ONIONS AND ORANGES

The fish and the oranges can be prepared a day ahead, along with the onions, which should be fried till soft, so the whole dish takes just minutes to assemble and cook.

If you prefer, you can use any firm-fleshed fish instead of cod.

SERVES 6

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 medium-sized onions, skinned and sliced finely

1-2 cloves of garlic, skinned and chopped finely

6 oranges

2 tablespoons chopped mint (applemint when in season)

6 pieces of filleted cod, each weighing about 6oz/170g

1/2 teaspoon salt

a good grinding of black pepper

1 tablespoon strong soy sauce

Rub an ovenproof dish with butter or olive oil.

In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onions and garlic until they are very soft and transparent – stirring from time to time to make sure they cook evenly. This will take about five to seven minutes over a moderately high heat.

Put some of the fried onions and garlic over the base of the dish.

Slice the skin from the oranges with a serrated knife then cut each orange into five or six thin slices, reserving the juice. Place half of the sliced oranges in a layer over the onion and garlic in the dish, and scatter the mint over the surface. Add the pieces of fish, then top with the remaining fried onions and garlic. Mix the salt, pepper and soy sauce into the juice reserved from slicing the oranges, and pour over the contents of the dish.

Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350C/Gas Mark 4, for 35 to 40 minutes. If the dish has been prepared in advance and kept in the fridge, remember to bring it to room temperature for half an hour before baking it.

STEAM-BAKED SALMON FILLETS WITH WATERCRESS AND GREMOLATA

I have taken the liberty of adding anchovies to a traditional gremolata which should consist only of garlic, lemon and parsley.

SERVES 6

6 pieces of filleted, preferably organically farmed, salmon, each weighing about 6oz/170g – this recipe is easiest when the pieces of fish are thick, not taken from near the tail, where the flesh is thinner

For the gremolata:

4oz/110g parsley, any thick, tough stalks removed

4oz/110g watercress, stalks and all

1 fat clove of garlic, skinned and diced finely

2 anchovy fillets, drained of their oil

2oz/55g pinenuts, dry-fried till light brown

finely grated rinds of 2 lemons (well washed and dried before grating)

1/2 pint/285ml extra virgin olive oil

about 15 grinds of black pepper

a grating of dried chilli (optional)

juice of 1 lemon

Start by making the gremolata – cram the de-stalked parsley and watercress into the food processor and add the diced garlic, anchovy fillets, pinenuts and grated lemon rinds, but not the juice yet. Whizz, and as the parsley and watercress break down, start trickling in the olive oil. When all the olive oil is incorporated, season with black pepper and dried chilli (if using), and whizz in the lemon juice. Scrape this into a bowl, cover and store in the fridge. You can make this a day in advance, but stir it well before use.

Remove any skin from each piece of filleted salmon. With a sharp knife, slice the fillets in half width-ways. Spread a good spoonful of the gremolata over each bottom half, then cover again with its top half.

Set a sheet of baking parchment on a roasting tin and put the salmon on this. Cover with another sheet of baking parchment, tucking it firmly around the fish at the edges of the tin. Bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 20 to 25 minutes. The fish will steam within its parchment case, which intensifies all the flavours of the gremolata.

When you unwrap the fish, reserve any juices for spooning over the surface when it is served.

SMOKED HADDOCK, SHALLOT, SPINACH AND SAFFRON STEW

SERVES 6

2-21/2 lb/900g-1.2kg filleted smoked haddock

8-10 shallots (depending on their size), finely chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pint/585ml double cream

2 good pinches of saffron strands (about 1/2 teaspoon)

plenty of black pepper (no salt – the fish should be sufficiently salty)

110g/4oz baby spinach leaves

Put the smoked haddock on a board and feel it carefully with your fingertips; cut out any bones you detect. Cut the fish into chunks about 11/2 in/4cm in size.

Skin and chop the shallots very finely. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan and sauté the shallots until they are quite soft. Add the pieces of fish, the cream and saffron, and bring to a gentle simmer – the fish will take about three minutes to cook.

Season with pepper, then add the spinach – it will be a high mound, but cover the pan with a lid and it will wilt very quickly. When the spinach has wilted right down, carefully combine it with the rest of the contents of the pan, taking care not to break up the pieces of fish more than you can help. Ladle into warmed bowls to serve.

You can prepare your fish and shallots hours in advance – or the previous day, if you prefer. Keep them in a covered bowl in the fridge, then all you need to do is assemble the ingredients and cook them.

To check fish quality, press the surface with your index finger. If it's fresh, the indentation will pop back out