Fish Stew With a Kick

I can't help it, I'm on a stew kick still. Next week's menu plan is shaping up to be more vegetable-y and salad-y, so be prepared for less stewiness!

In the meantime though, since I had most of the ingredients on hand I decided to riff on Kalyn's Kitchen Spicy Red Fish Stew. Her blog has been a huge inspiration for my dinner planning lately, with most recipes being low-glycemic (or "South Beach Diet" style). I don't follow any particular diet and have never done the South Beach one, but the majority of my life I tend to eat low-carb and/or low-glycemic anyway. Sure, occasionally I crave pasta - I mean c'mon, I'm not dead - but for the most part I try to avoid the blood sugar spikes carbs cause.

I didn't veer too far from Kalyn's version; I boosted the heat level and roasted my own bell peps, and changed the name of course, but the rest is basically the same:

1/2 large red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 red bell peps*
1 jalapeno, finely minced (remove seeds/pith for less heat or omit)
red pepper flakes (I used about 1/2 t - use whatever quantity you wish or omit)
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 fresh lemon zest
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 c cilantro, chopped
3 cod fillets, chopped into 1" square pieces
S&P

*To time things appropriately, start with the bell peps - wash, trim ends/seeds, and splay out, skin side down, onto sprayed cookie sheet. Roast in pre-heated 425 oven for 15-20 mins, or until they're slightly blackened.
While bell peps are roasting in the oven, chop the onions, garlic, and jalapeno, and saute in the olive oil on med-high heat. When just barely starting to brown, add tomatoes and turn heat down to med-low. While that's simmering, remove peps from oven, slide off onto cutting board, and roughly chop. Add peps to stew and give a good stir. Then add the lemon, zest, cilantro and fish. Cover, let simmer about 10 more minutes (or until fish begins to flake), add S&P, and serve!

Brandon said this would've been great with tortillas. We enjoyed it without the tortillas, but with a couple ice cold Coronas.