Fish Stir Fry w Chili Bacon Chips

About

If you find yourself hungry on the Keto diet, look no further than this super-filling stir fry and bacon meal. Vegetarians beware – this recipe is not for you! Swai catfish fillets are rubbed down with an Asian-inspired curry seasoning blend that’s just a little bit spicy. After they marinate in the dry rub, the fish is blackened on your stovetop. You serve your blackened fish with stir-fried bok choy, mushrooms, and nuts over a bed of buttery cauliflower rice made with green onions. The final touch is a small serving of chili bacon chips, which are cooked to a crisp in your oven. The bacon chips are coated in a lime-flavored Tajin seasoning, which makes for a salivating side dish. You may find this recipe especially appealing for Keto meal prepping. In which case, you can keep portioned meals together in meal prep containers for up to 5 days in your refrigerator. A microwave is all you need to reheat the dish.

What Type Of Bacon Should I Use?

The best type of bacon you can use is smoked bacon that comes on a slab. This makes it easier to slice bacon to just the right thickness to mimic chips when they bake. However, you can make this recipe with pre-packaged bacon. It’s recommended you use thick-sliced bacon. If you use pre-packaged bacon, just expect a lot of shrinking in the oven.

Frozen Or Fresh Cauliflower Rice?

You can use either thawed cauliflower rice from frozen or raw cauliflower you’ve riced yourself for this recipe. If you choose frozen cauliflower rice, make sure it’s fully thawed before cooking with it, and drain any excess water out of the packaging. If you use fresh riced cauliflower, you may experience your rice cooking very quickly, so just keep your eyes on your rice to avoid burning. Both types of cauliflower rice should cook to the same consistency and weight.

Ingredients

12 oz swai white fish fillets
1 teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon ginger ground dry
2 oz bacon
2 teaspoon classico seasoning chili lemon with lime
½ tablespoon avocado oil
10 oz cauliflower rice
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
1 tbsp, chopped scallions
½ tablespoon butter, unsalted
3 oz brown mushrooms
4 oz bok choy
¾ oz cashews, raw
1 tablespoon avocado oil
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon sesame seeds
1 tsp, chopped garlic

Instructions

Prepare cleaned swai catfish fillets by rubbing them down with olive oil. Season the fillets heavily with lemon pepper, chili powder, pepper, curry powder, onion powder, and dried ground ginger, and gently press the seasonings into the flesh. Set the fish aside in a dish in your refrigerator to marinate with the dry rub for at least 1 hour. Don’t marinate beyond 2 hours.
When the fish is nearing the end of marination, you can start making the bacon chips. Turn on an oven to preheat to 375 degrees. Spray a baking rack liberally with pan spray, and set the rack on top of a sheet tray to catch any drippings. Slice bacon strips from a slab, equalling the weight listed in the ingredients. Cut the bacon strips into 3-inch pieces to make “chips”, and arrange them on your prepared baking rack.
Sprinkle about ⅛ teaspoon of Tajin seasoning on each piece of bacon. Gently press the seasoning onto the bacon so it adheres. Set the tray of bacon in your oven to bake for 25 minutes or more. Simply look for extra crispy pieces of bacon for doneness, no flipping or rotating necessary. Set the bacon aside to cool if it finishes baking before the rest of the recipe is made.
To make the cauliflower rice and stir fry vegetables, use a wok. However, if you don’t own a wok, a standard non-stick pan will work. Heat the first amount of avocado oil in your wok over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the hot cauliflower rice to the wok and season it with salt, pepper, and chopped green onion. Cook and toss the rice in the hot oil until it is fried to a light golden.
Reduce the heat on your wok and add the butter to the cauliflower rice. Toss the rice again in the melted butter until it’s coated. Let the rice fry in the butter for just 1 or 2 minutes in your wok. Then, transfer the finished cauliflower to your serving plates. Chop cremini mushrooms and thin-slice washed bok choy and combine them in a mixing bowl. Add chopped cashews to the vegetables.
Heat the second amount of avocado oil in the wok again on high heat. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and cashews to the wok. Season the wok with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, and minced garlic, stirring all the ingredients together to combine. Toss and stir the veggies and cashews in the oil until they’re done. The bok choy and mushrooms should be very tender with golden brown char marks. The chopped cashews will be soft enough to pierce with a fork and also have some golden brown char. Transfer the stir-fried vegetables to rest with the cauliflower rice.
Grab a new, clean, regular non-stick pan to make the fish. Heat the pan without any oil over medium-high heat. Wait until the pan is hot, then place the seasoned swai fillets down in the pan. Cook the fish undisturbed until it blackens and naturally releases from the pan. Use a fish spatula to flip the fish over and cook the same way on the other side. You can reduce the heat as necessary on the second side to avoid burning the pan or drying out the fish. Let the fish rest for just a couple of minutes before serving it with your stir-fried veggies and cauliflower rice. Don’t forget to include the bacon chips as well.