If you enjoy the tangy punch of quick-pickled vegetables as much as I do, the next time you want fish for dinner, make it escovitch-style, and while you are at it, use catfish for a change. The Jamaican dish of spice-rubbed fish is served smothered with a sauté of sweet vegetables – onion, carrot and bell pepper – simmered briefly in vinegar, giving it a bright, “quickle” (quick pickle) effect. Although the vinegar is a defining element, the mixture is far from one-note – it is layered with heady and earthy flavors from Scotch bonnet (or habanero) pepper, thyme, garlic and ground allspice.
Red snapper is commonly used, but for this recipe I went with catfish, an especially sustainable and inexpensive option highlighted by The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch as their Super Green List fish of the month. This list of “seafood no-brainers,” is intended to steer us to the most nutritious and environmentally friendly choices. It also encourages branching out beyond the three types of seafood that tend to dominate our diets – shrimp, salmon and canned tuna make up more than half of our intake in the United States.
While they can certainly be good choices, it’s better to eat a wider variety to broaden our nutritional intake, help maintain biodiversity and add excitement to the plate. The catfish filets I bought were surprisingly inexpensive, at around $10 a pound, and they were delightfully mild-tasting. I hadn’t bought catfish in as long as I can remember, .