Leftovers get lost in the refrigerator

Organic whole-wheat spaghetti with salted cod fish and anchovies.

Canned-fish salad with celery, Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin.

Editor's note: Why do I end up eating all of the leftovers? Also today, a trip to Costco yields two beautiful all-cotton shirts, and I rave over the salads at a Thai restaurant.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Christmas Day, I had a canned-fish salad with tuna, salmon and sardines as part of a homemade Feast of the Seven Fishes, relying on what I had on hand.

A few days later, I went looking for the canned-fish salad, and couldn't find it. 

So I made more, this time adding a small dice of sweet apple to cans of pink salmon and sardines with celery, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and ground cumin.

Today, rummaging in the refrigerator for a snack, I found the first version behind several other containers. 

I tried them side by side, and definitely prefer the one with the apple in it. 

Leftovers don't get any respect in our house from anyone but me.

In an effort to cut down the time and work that go into home-cooked meals, I make large batches of mashed sweet potatoes, pasta with sardines, canned-fish salad, 10-grain hot cereal with dried fruit and other dishes.

But I'm the one who usually ends up eating almost all of them, as other members of the family -- the meat eaters -- chase after a fresh taste sensation almost every night.

If something is good, I can eat the same dish a few times a week.

On Sunday afternoon, I made a pound of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti with bottled Victoria Marinara Sauce, salted cod fish and anchovies. 

Even though I mentioned my intention to do so to my wife that morning, she prepared a big pot of tripe soup, and I was the only one who had spaghetti.

I ate it with leftover flounder no one but me touched after we had it for dinner one night, and my teenage son never had any of the fish.

Multi-tasking at Costco

I went to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack today for Kashi Trail Mix Chewy Granola Bars and raw, sodium-free almonds, and came home with those items and two beautiful, all-cotton shirts for only $17.99 each.

  

My salad days

I continue to be wowed by the salads at Wondee's, our favorite Thai restaurant (photos above).

On Saturday night, we shared a crunchy, fresh green papaya salad with lemon juice, chili, peanuts, green beans, tomato and dried ground shrimp (Som Thum, $8).

We also shared a second salad, from the vegetarian menu, of crispy tofu tossed with shredded apple, carrot, orange and onion in lime juice and chili paste (Yum Rod Pedt, $10).

Our entree (photo above) was steamed jumbo shrimp topped with sweet and sour chili sauce (Koong Lard Prig, $17).

We also had wonton and seafood soups.
 

Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles, 296 Main St., Hackensack; 201-883-1715. BYO. Free parking in rear off Camden Street.