re: Which one of these Amandines looks better to you?

It all depends on whose "tradition" you are talking about. Toss that gloppy pasta and the goofy sprinkles of paprika, and that's pretty what an amandine is going to look like at every "traditional" place in New Orleans.

No, it's not a classic French amandine (the classic version is not made with speckled sea trout either), but that method certainly carries a certain longstanding "tradition."