We were in the seafood section of our grocery store, and none of the fresh fish options looked appetizing - it was the end of the day and everything good was gone. We walked over to the frozen seafood section and saw Swai fillets for $3.99 a pound. So cheap! What is swai? We've never heard of it. After doing some quick googling and learning that it is low in mercury and tastes like catfish, we decided to try it.
We ended up loving it. It was very light and flaky when we cooked it, and the best part is that it wasn't too fishy tasting or smelling. But if you can't find swai fillets, then tilapia can easily be substituted in this recipe.
I loved the flavor combination of tomatillos and peaches from this salsa recipe, so I decided to make a fresh peach tomatillo relish to top the Swai fillets. It worked perfect together because the fresh relish paired nicely with the smoky flavor of the spice rub on the swai fillets.
We ate the swai fillets with peach tomatillo relish on top of a bed of sauteed swiss chard, with a side of garlic sauteed asparagus.
The whole meal took a half hour to prepare, but if you are only making the spice rubbed swai fillets with peach tomatillo relish, it will only take 15 minutes!
Spice Rubbed Swai Fillets
Makes 2. This can be doubled.
- 2 Swai fillets, thawed
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon salt, to taste
- ½ lime, optional
Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a baking dish and place the swai fillets into the baking dish. (I love using foil - less dishes to clean up. Just crumple and toss.)
Combine all the ingredients for the spice rub in a small bowl. Season both fillets well with the spice rub.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until fillets are fully cooked and flake easily with a fork. (You can work on the relish in the meantime)
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Remove from oven and squeeze some lime juice all over the fillets, if you're into that sort of thing.
To plate, place a fillet on top of sauteed Swiss chard and top with Peach Tomatillo Relish.
Peach Tomatillo Relish
Makes enough for 4 fillets, no need to double if you're doubling the fish.
- 1 tomatillo
- ½ peach (not too ripe, you want to be able to cut it)
- ½ cubanelle pepper (or any sweet pepper)
- ½ hot pepper (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- ½ teaspoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Finely dice the tomatillo, peach, and peppers. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
That's it! Super simple, super fast, super delicious, and super healthy.
Have you ever tried swai before? What is your favorite way to cook it?
Fran @ G'day Souffle'
Monday 12th of January 2015
Hi, I was inspired by your use of tomatillos in your relish and recently used them in a Persimmon salad. They have an interesting almost sour taste. First time I ever used them!
Kate
Tuesday 13th of January 2015
Yea tomatillos are definitely kind of sour, but in a pleasant way (at least I thought so). They definitely need a sweet fruit to balance out their flavor, maybe all mixed together like a relish or salsa instead of individual chunks like a salad.
I've been obsessed with persimmons lately! My mom makes this salad where she adds sliced persimmons and then make a dressing by pureeing really ripe persimmons and making a persimmon vinaigrette type dressing. Yum!