Grilled Swai

As you know, we discovered Swai this past year. And it has quickly become a favorite. Well, with most of it. I have one who isn't keen on any fish.  But the rest of us love it. And it is cheap. And easy.  That makes me love it even more.

Recently, a FB friend of mine mentioned that he had grilled Swai. We have pan fried it and baked it but never grilled it.

Since our grilling season will wind down soon, I thought tonight was a good night to try.

Oh, yum.

Even my non fish eater ate some of it.

Ingredients:
Apple Wood Chips (soaked)

Swai (we had 6 filets)

Olive Oil

Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Directions:
After soaking the wood chips, place them in the bottom of your grill. I actually bought a metal box that is made for wood chips.  It worked wonderfully.

Heat up the chips. (350 degrees)

Be prepared. Your yard will smell SOOOOO good.

Brush the Swai with olive oil and then sprinkle some seasoned salt.  I did it very lightly so it wouldn't be too salty.

Put the swai on the other end of the grill (no heat below it) and close the lid.  After about 10 minutes, flip the swai over.  Brush with more olive oil or sprinkle with more seasoned salt if desired.  Note:  Use a large spatula to flip it. If you try using tongs, the fish WILL fall apart.

Grill for about 10 more minutes, until the fish flakes easily.

Enjoy!

We ate ours with almond rice pilaf, French bread, and a salad.

The only sad thing is there were no leftovers for me for lunch tomorrow. :(

Reba

Seasoned Swai

I have been craving Swai again recently (not to mention I love how cheap it is for our family of 6), but I was afraid I would burn my crew out on it if I keep cooking it the same way.  (I, myself, could eat the panko-encrusted version any day of the week...)

So I did a quick search via Pinterest and found a recipe for tilapia.  I thought, "Why couldn't I try this with Swai?"

And that is exactly what I did.

I was a little worried just because some of the ingredients indicated "spicy" to me which doesn't always go over well with my crew.

But thankfully it really wasn't.

It was just nicely seasoned.

And even better, it was baked.

Good flavor, low calorie. My favorite combination.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (I actually used more like 1/3 mainly because that is where my measuring cup started...)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ginger

fresh ground pepper (I just ground it on the spot and guesstimate...the original recipe calls for 1 tsp)

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

a pinch cayenne pepper

swai fillets (I used 6 and had plenty of seasoning)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix all of the seasonings in with the olive oil. 

Brush the seasoning on both sides of the swai on the parchment paper.

Pour the remaining seasoning mix over the fillets on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

I served ours over a bed of angel hair pasta. We were going to have the Oriental salad with it but there was a cole slaw incident.  So we had carrots and Ranch instead.  We also tried the new Crescent rolls with garlic/herb flavor...

I guess it was pretty good.

There were no leftovers.

Again.

:( 

Boo for me.

Reba

Swai in Lemon Butter Sauce

As you know, swai fish is one of my new favorite foods. I love it. Really. It is such a light fish with good flavor. And not very "fishy" for a fish. That and it is low in calories. Oh, and cheap. Really, it is all you could want in a fish and more.

The last few times I have made it, I used our panko encrusted swai recipe.

I would eat that meal over and over.

But I thought I should try something different for the other people in the house.

And this just sounded good.

I found a couple of recipes online that were almost identical, so I am not sure who to give credit to. I guess you could try this one or that one.

I followed the recipe fairly closely.

Ingredients:
Swai fillets, thawed (I made 7 for our family of 6...I think I had a half of one leftover for my lunch the next day)

salt and pepper

1/4-1/2 cup flour

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter (I did use blue bonnet light)

1/2 cup white wine

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Directions:
Salt and pepper both sides of the swai.

Dredge the swai in the flour. (I put the flour in a ziplock bag, threw the swai in there, and shook to my heart's content).

Heat 1 tbsp butter and the tbsp of oil over medium high heat.

When the oil/butter is hot, add the swai and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. It should flake easily.

Remove swai from heat.

Add the white wine, lemon juice, and thyme to the same skillet you cooked the swai in. Cook over medium heat until boiling. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat down and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring. (The "browned" parts from the fish can be stirred in...yum!)

After it is heated through, turn off the oven and add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the sauce mixture.

Serve the sauce over the swai fillets.

We ate ours with almond rice pilaf, garlic bread, and carrot sticks/Ranch.

Enjoy!

Reba

Panko Encrusted Swai

The other day, a parent of a former student posted about her new food blog. The first blog post focused on a fish named Swai.

Ironically, I had seen this fish in a display at our grocery store earlier that week. I had wondered about it but didn't buy it without knowing anything.

After reading my friend's blog post, I decided to grab some the nest time I was at the store.

Today I needed a quick meal due to some other commitments. The fish seemed like a good fit for our dinner.

So early this morning, I took six fillets out of their packages and put them in a pan of cold water on the counter. (This can be done and put in the fridge 24 hours ahead of time also)

Then I started googling.

I didn't have the sauce my friend Karen had mentioned using.

So I checked out other possibilities.

Then I combined those sources to make my own...

By the way, Swai (rhymes with Why?) is a catfish from Vietnam though it doesn't really look like our usual catfish. It is very reasonably priced, is low cal (200 calories with the ingredients I used), and is one of the "least fishy" types of fish I have ever eaten.

I couldn't WAIT to eat some more tomorrow for lunch. Yum, leftovers.

What I didn't count on was the fact that both my boys would race to eat every last morsel.

And they did.

Sigh.

I guess I should just be happy they liked it.

I sure did!

I will make this again.

Panko Encrusted Swai

Ingedients:
6-8 Swai fillets thawed (I put it out this morning in a dish of cold water)
olive oil
1/2 cup Panko crumbs (I just use plain)
Italian Seasoning
Parmesan (shredded...I HIGHLY recommend freshly shredded)
sea salt and freshly ground peppercorns

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with Parchment Paper.

Brush both sides of each fillet with olive oil.

Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. I did a good job with this. I was SOOO thirsty by the end of the evening. I also added Italian seasoning. Just a few good sprinkles here and there.

Shred Parmesan and sprinkle over one side of chicken.

Spread Panko crumbs over the top.

I also "misted" them with olive oil to help the fish brown.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-20 minutes.

Like I said, they were a huge hit.

I will be making them again.

Next time, hubby wants to sear them first for a little crispness, then bake them.

Enjoy!

Reba
PS About 200 calories a serving. :)