I love to cook in my slow cooker. It's so easy and over the years I've found lots of fast and delicious recipes that I can make ahead. Easy to cook, easy to clean. That's my motto!

But did you known you could cook fish in a slow cooker? Who ever thought that would work? But it does!

It's time you learned how. It's fun, it's fast, it's simple and it's delicious. Best of all it's loaded with healthy protein. It suddenly became a family favorite—they raved about it for days!

The serving size for this recipe is 4 ounces of sea bass fish fillets—which has 22grams of protein. However, I have used Tilapia, Flounder, and Salmon. The cooking time is approximately the same.  

Pecan-crusted Fish Packets

• 4  4ounce fresh skinless sea bass or salmon fillets, about an inch think. (Tilapia is thinner, but it works well).
• 1/3 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
• 1 TBsp ghee (clarified butter or coconut oil)
• 1 tsp snipped fresh basil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach, I have also used garden peas and carrots and other vegetables.
• 4 lemon wedges

1. Rinse fish, pat dry.

2. In a small bowl combine the next five ingredients. 

3. Cut four 12-inch squares of parchment paper. For each packet, place 1 cup of spinach in the center of the square.

4. Top with a fish fillet, spread fish with 1/4 of the pecan mixture. 

5. Bring up the opposite sides of the parchment paper and fold several times over the fish. Fold remaining ends and tuck underneath packet. 

6. Place packets in a 4 to 5 qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 to 1/3/4 hours or until fish flakes easily. 

7. Serve with lemon wedges.

Makes 4 servings. For sea bass: 216 calories, 13g fat. 3g carbs, 2g fiber, 1g sugar, 22g protein. (revised from Better Homes and Gardens recipe)

Look for more recipes on Miles to Go in the recipe section.