Healthy One-Tray Hake Recipe | Sevenoaks Chef & PT

Let me guess. By the time you get in, dinner has a habit of becoming toast, soup from a carton, or something beige from the freezer. I understand. Cooking a proper meal on a weeknight can feel like a lot of faff for not much reward.

The trouble is, that’s how good intentions slip. And what you eat is what fuels you up the stairs, through the working day and round Knole Park at the weekend.

So here’s a dinner that does the hard work for you. One tray, about 40 minutes, very little washing up, and roughly 30g of protein on each plate.

I started my chef training at Westminster at 16, and went on to work at the Dorchester and Marco Pierre White’s Belvedere. Welcome to the real life of a chef. Or lack of.

What those kitchens taught me is that the best food is usually the simplest. Good fish, a few fresh ingredients, cooked with care. No sugar, no fad, no nonsense.

This is that kind of dish. It looks like something from a smart restaurant, but you can make it on a Tuesday night.

Hake is a lovely, flaky white fish with a mild, slightly sweet flavour. It’s usually a bit kinder on the purse than cod, and you’ll find it chilled or frozen in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and M&S.

It’s soft, quick to cook and hard to get wrong. If you can’t find hake, cod loin or haddock work brilliantly.

Oven: 200°C (180°C fan)

• 2 skinless hake fillets, about 140g each

• 1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed

• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• ½ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tsp for the fish

• 100g baby spinach

• ½ lemon, zest and juice

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 15g flat-leaf parsley, leaves and fine stalks

• 10g fresh basil or mint leaves

• 1 tbsp capers, drained

• ½ small garlic clove

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Put the onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes and fennel seeds in a medium roasting tin, add 2 tbsp olive oil, season, and toss together. Roast for 12 minutes, until the tomatoes start to soften and collapse.

2. While that’s in, make the salsa verde. Finely chop the herbs, capers and garlic together on a board, then stir them into a bowl with the mustard, vinegar, olive oil and lemon zest. Season with pepper and only a pinch of salt, as the capers are already salty.

3. Take the tin out and stir in the butter beans with 3 tbsp water. Lightly crush a few of the beans with a fork, as this thickens the juices into a silky sauce.

4. Pat the hake dry with kitchen paper, season both sides, and rub with 1 tsp olive oil. Sit the fillets on top of the beans and return to the oven for 10–12 minutes, until the fish is white all the way through and flakes when gently pressed.

5. Lift the fish onto a warm plate for a moment. Stir the spinach into the hot beans until it wilts, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and check the seasoning.

6. Spoon the beans, tomatoes and spinach into two warm, shallow bowls. Sit the hake on top and spoon over the salsa verde.

Protein. Your muscles need a steady supply of protein to repair and get stronger, whether you’re 25 or 85. Hake and butter beans together give you roughly 30g a plate, which is a proper helping.

Hydration. Tomatoes, spinach, lemon and those bean juices all add water to your meal. Even mild dehydration can leave you tired and foggy, so food that helps counts.

Fibre. Butter beans bring fibre to keep things moving and keep you full, so you’re not raiding the biscuit tin at 9pm.

No sugar. Not a grain of it. Just real food that tastes of something.

It’s that simple. It really is.

The truth is, protein on its own won’t build you stronger legs. Your muscles need a reason to use it, and that reason is regular, sensible strength work.

That’s where I come in. I’m a 100% mobile personal trainer, and I train people in their own homes across Sevenoaks, Riverhead, Otford, Kemsing, Dunton Green, Seal, Borough Green, Platt and Weald.

If you’d like to feel stronger and fitter this winter, the first step is an informal home visit. We’ll have a cup of tea, talk about what you want to achieve, and see where you are.

No pressure. No commitment. Just a chat.

Absolutely. Defrost it overnight in the fridge, then pat it very dry before cooking, as frozen fish holds more water.

What can I use instead of butter beans?

Cannellini beans or chickpeas both work well. Choose ones tinned in water, not in sauce, to keep sugar out.

Can I make this for one, or for the whole family?

Yes. Halve everything and use a smaller tin for one, or double it across two trays for four. Any leftover salsa verde keeps for two days in the fridge and is lovely spooned over eggs.

So, will you give it a go this week? Let me know how you got on. Here’s to a strong, well-fed winter.

Daniel Welstead, Personal Trainer in Sevenoaks