Swai Fish with Vegetable Kabobs

Mark and I are always looking for new recipes, unusual vegetables and a variety of meats. This week, we tried a fish called Swai. Mark headed out to the store with a plan to cook fish. Fish is normally expensive and not as filling as beef or chicken. We always talk about adding more fish to our diet, but rarely do it. When Mark went to the fish counter, he asked the woman behind the counter for a suggestion. She raved about a fish called Swai, a farmed river catfish from Asia. She told him it is half the cost of more popular fish like halibut or swordfish. Swai is a mild, sweet tasting white fish. The woman at the fish counter suggested using a lemon marinade and lemon seasoning to offset the sweetness. Here is what we came up with:

2 lbs. Swai fillets (4 fillets)
Marinade: Brianna’s Special Request Lemon Tarragon Dressing (Ingredients included honey, oil, lemon and tarragon – easy to make your own)
Seasoning: Weber Zesty Lemon Seafood Seasoning

Directions:
Place the fish on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Pour dressing over both sides of the fillets and rub evenly with hands. Sprinkle a light amount of seasoning on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so.

While we waited, we prepared the veggies for kabobs. We used wooden kabob sticks so we soaked them for a minute or two in water. We washed and cut up a green and red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, jalapeno peppers and cherry tomatoes and slid them on the sticks.

We also quartered B potatoes to boil to “potato salad tenderness” and later added butter and dill.

While Mark prepared the grill, I moved the fish from the parchment paper to another grill pan lined with foil. The pan was place in the center of the grill with the kabobs on each side.

The cooking time was eight minutes total over a medium flame. While on the grill, Mark basted the kabobs with a mixture of olive oil and oregano. He turned the kabobs a few times so they cooked evenly. Half way through the cooking time, Mark flipped the fish.

They were delicious, although still very sweet. The kabobs came out great and will go with a variety of meats. The potatoes were good, but I think rice would have gone better with the fish. We are potato lovers, so it is our go-to starch.

We completed the meal with a glass of one of my favorite Chardonnays – Sonoma Cutrer.

What did our kids think? They each tried quarter sized pieces and didn’t like it. Our 9-year-old son said “It’s not that bad”, but would not have more. They dined on frozen chicken patties on buns. Fine with me – more for us!