Weekday Roasted Catfish with Lemon

So many women do so much more than I do. I look at them in awe, just amazed by how much they do for their families, seemingly effortlessly. It’s a trap, though, to think that way. Sometimes I fall into that trap, the “you don’t do enough because other women do so much more” abandoned well of problem thinking. One of the best and worst parts of being an adult, though, is that there’s no Lassie running back to the farm to bring help. If you want to get out of traps like that which you set for yourself, you gotta be your own Lassie. I like to think about this as Weekend Laura vs. Weekday Laura. Weekend Laura plans and shops for the meals, gets the vegetables ready, and packs everything up so it’s ready to go should Weekday Laura fall down that well.

We love Weekend Laura.

This roasted catfish with lemon recipe is for 2 fillets, but use that as a baseline for your family. One fillet is great for an adult, and 2 kids could easily split one. Make this a one-pan dinner by adding vegetables tossed in olive oil and salt to the pan around the fish. If you are making more than 2 fillets, add your vegetables to a separate tray.

Time

• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• Catfish fillets, roughly the same size, and 1 per person
• 1 lemon per 2 fillets, or however many it takes to suit your taste, cut into rounds
• Smoked paprika
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• Knob of good butter
• Optional: parsley, dill, or thyme (dried or fresh is fine)

Process

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and brush it with olive oil.
2. Lay out your fillets on the tray. Flip each one over to sprinkle some salt on the underside, then lay them back down, right side up.
3. Brush the tops of the fillets with olive oil.
4. Sprinkle the tops with salt, then with paprika. There are no measurements for this, so just use your judgment and pay attention to your tastes. In my photos, you can see that I go heavy on the paprika because catfish can handle it, but please do what you and your family prefer.
5. Lay the lemon rounds down the length of the fish, then sprinkle any herbs you would like to add.
6. Add little pats of butter over your fillet. I usually add a little dime-sized pat between each lemon slice and then maybe on the ends or edges if the fillet is big enough.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Your cooked fish should be bouncy and flaky, but not tough.

The butter and lemon melt down with the fish to keep it super juicy and fishy and just really happy. Please do yourself a favor and make sure you put this on parchment for an easy clean-up. Pictured here I served this with mashed sweet potatoes, a current favorite I can’t stop making, and green peas tossed in a little bit of that fishy lemon butter. We also often serve this with my buttery roasted cabbage (opens in a new window) because they can go in the oven at the same time.

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What would you serve on the side of this roasted catfish with lemon? What are your favorite ways to take care of Weekday You? Let me know over on Instagram!