Blackened Catfish with Mango Cucumber Salsa
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 3-6
Ingredients
  • Mango Cucumber Salsa
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 2 Tbsp canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped
  • 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
  • 3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • Blackened Catfish
  • 3 Catfish Fillets (about 1 ¾ lbs)
  • 1 tsp ground coriander seed
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked salt (or regular salt if you can’t find it)
  • (We’re fortunate to have a Savory Spice Shop near us and used their alderwood smoked salt for this. We did a search of local grocery stores and came up empty on the smoked salt availability, but you can order online from Savory Spice Shop.)
  • 1 Tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp roasted garlic powder (or garlic powder)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • This spice mix is nightshade-free to this point. We had it this way and it was great!
  • However, if you’re not nightshade sensitive and/or would like more heat, you can add
  • 1 Tbsp smoked paprika and
  • ½ - 1 tsp cayenne pepper (depending how hot you like it). In this case, you could substitute regular salt for the smoked salt and ½ tsp black pepper for the white pepper as well).
  • Good high smoke point oil like rice bran oil.
Instructions
Mango Cucumber Salsa
  1. Mix dressing: lime juice, oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.
  2. Toss red onion, mango, cucumber, cilantro and dressing and let sit 20 minutes or more to marinate.
Blackened Catfish
  1. Mix spices.
  2. Rinse catfish and pat dry.
  3. Sprinkle spice mix all over catfish and pat it in.
  4. Refrigerate 15 minutes or longer.
  5. Heat a heavy skillet (cast iron works great for staying uniformly hot) over high heat until quite hot. If you have a burner on your outdoor grill, this is a great use of it to minimize smoke and mess.
  6. Add about ⅛ inch deep oil to pan and add fish. Don’t crowd the pan, do in batches if necessary.
  7. Cook fish about 3 minutes per side until opaque throughout.
  8. Serve fish immediately with Mango Cucumber Salsa.
Notes
Number of servings depends on the size of the catfish fillets and your diner’s appetites. Small fillets will only serve 1, whereas larger fillets may serve 2.
Recipe by Savory Nature at http://savorynature.com/2014/06/05/blackened-catfish-with-mango-cucumber-salsa/