There’s been a half-full bag of frozen catfish lounging in the back of my freezer for a few weeks now. I’ve been desperately trying to figure out what to do with it, but my mind kept drawing a blank. The only thing I could think of was to make fried catfish…I know, boring. There had to be something better I could make.
A little lightbulb in my head went off a few days ago. ‘Make the fried catfish…’ my brain said.
‘But make it a salad.’
A great idea was born: fried catfish salad. Of course the ‘fried fish’ in this recipe is actually oven-fried fish, but I digress. This salad was chock full of spicy, Cajun-y catfish, fresh bell peppers, and a creamy remoulade dressing.
Yep. You read that right. Remoulade dressing.
Remoulade is a sauce that’s mayonnaise based anyway, so it’s easy to make it into a dressing. It paired harmoniously with the crispy oven-fried catfish and the sweet bell peppers. The dressing was the perfect match.
Since I’m still (attempting) to do keto, the breading for the catfish is a little different: almond flour & blackening seasoning. The almond flour is a really close, lowcarb mimic of cornmeal. They’ve both got that gritty, mealy texture that works great with catfish. Using almond flour was a no-brainer.
If you can’t find blackening seasoning, use Cajun or Creole seasoning instead. Whatever you do, use a lot of it. There’s no ‘a little goes a long way’ here. Cajun food is all about excess, and seasoning things up is no different. I used two tablespoons of the seasoning in the almond flour, but you could always use more.
Enjoy!
Cajun Catfish Salad
Spicy, crispy oven-fried catfish on top of a bed of mixed greens and peppers with a creamy remoulade dressing.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. catfish nuggets (or filets cut into chunks)
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 TBS. blackening seasoning
- 3 TBS. butter, melted
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
For the creamy remoulade dressing:
- 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
- 2 TBS. capers
- 2 TBS. creole mustard (or dijon mustard)
- 1 TBS. paprika
- 1/4 cup pickle juice
- 2 tsp. hot sauce
Directions
- Make the dressing: in a bowl or resealable container, whisk together mayo, mustard, parika, pickle juice and hot sauce. Stir in capers. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Make the oven-fried catfish: preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set up a dredging station: in a shallow bowl melt butter, in another shallow bowl stir together the almond flour and blackening seasoning. Dip catfish nuggets in butter, then roll around in almond flour mixture. Shake off excess. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake catfish for 15-20 minutes until crispy and cooked through. Let cool slightly.
- Make the salad: toss greens with dressing and top with chopped peppers and catfish.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Make the dressing: in a bowl or resealable container, whisk together mayo, mustard, parika, pickle juice and hot sauce. Stir in capers.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Make the oven-fried catfish: preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set up a dredging station: in a shallow bowl melt butter, in another shallow bowl stir together the almond flour and blackening seasoning.
Dip catfish nuggets in butter, then roll around in almond flour mixture.
Shake off excess. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake catfish for 15-20 minutes until crispy and cooked through. Let cool slightly.
Make the salad: toss greens with dressing and top with chopped peppers and catfish.
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