Cajun Catfish

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

I have a strange obsession with the Cajun catfish at Harris Teeter, and I always feel the need to buy it whenever I see it. However, for some reason, they're hard to come by. I finally decided to ask the "seafood guy" about them and he told me to just season them myself with this one magical ingredient. I took his advice and tried this last night on some fresh catfish. You could use this on a variety of fish, but I chose catfish. This recipe is super fast and super easy, and healthy which is an added bonus!

Ingredients

• 2 catfish filets, or fish of your choice
• Approximately 2 tsp. Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and place the fish filets in the dish. Brush with just a little olive oil. Squeeze half of a lemon over the fish  and top with the seasoning. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.

Baked Catfish with Lemon Spaghetti

I was craving fish (big shocker there) the other night and decided this would be a pretty easy meal to put together. Full disclosure - I wanted tilapia, but Harris Teeter had sold out, so I settled for fresh catfish. It still turned out well, but I would probably use tilapia if I had a choice. The Lemon Spaghetti is a recipe adapted from Giada de Laurentis on The Food Network, who just so happens to be my favorite :) I will admit that the pasta portion tasted better the second day after having some time to set.

Baked Catfish
Place fish in a baking dish greased with PAM. Season with salt, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper and lemon juice. Bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes, or until fish is flaky.

Lemon Spaghetti

• 1 pound spaghetti (I used linguine)
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (optional)

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.