“The catfish is plenty good enough fish for anyone.” – Mark Twain
I prepared this dish tonight for dinner for the first time and would rate it an 8 or 9 out of a 10 high! It is cheesy, smooth & creamy and very tasty in the fact that it doesn’t have that strong “fishy” taste that some other Catfish dishes do. My wife didn’t care for the sun-dried tomatoes so am listing them as “optional.” I really like this recipe because it requires minimal prep time and everything goes into the oven raw and bakes in just ten minutes! The inspiration for this recipe came from AlyonasCooking.com with her, “Creamy Baked Tilapia Spinach Recipe.” I opted to change from Tilapia to farm raised Catfish because Catfish is plentiful and affordable in Texas and I know where it was raised.
About Catfish … most commercially (farm raised) marketed Catfish in the U.S. comes from Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. It is actually healthier and safer for human consumption because, unlike wild-caught Catfish, there is little chance of unsafe mercury levels in the farm raised products.
About Tilapia … less than 5% of the Tilapia sold in the U.S. comes from the U.S. This means that more than 95% comes from elsewhere and most of that is from China. I encourage you to Google, “tilapia raised in China,” and, afterwards, if you still want to chance eating Chinese farmed Tilapia, then more power to you! Personally, I like to believe that most of the Tilapia we are served in Mexican food restaurants comes from Central & South America but I still try to avoid it if I can. Remember, unless the label includes, “Farm raised in the U.S.,” or wording to that effect, you probably should avoid purchasing it!
Preheat oven to 500-degrees and assemble the ingredients for the recipe.
Unless prewashed, wash the spinach and dry on paper towels. Remove the larger, longer stems. Place the spinach leaves in a baking dish (I used a 10" x 10") and top them with butter cut into pats.
Lay the fish fillets over the spinach and butter pats.
With the exception of the shredded Colby Jack cheese, mix all the remaining ingredients in a medium-size bowl.
Spread the creamy mixture over each of the fillets and top them with the shredded Colby Jack cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly before serving.
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