It's wild-caught and really cheap, but will it taste good?

ShopRite is selling wild-caught Silverbrite Salmon for only $3.99 a pound or $2 off per pound, but the fillet I saw on Tuesday at the Paramus store didn't look very appetizing, above. Silverbrite is another name for chum or keta salmon.

Compare the color of Silverbrite to Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Alaska, bottom. Costco Wholesale is now selling fresh, wild-caught sockeye fillets for $12.99 a pound or $2 less a pound than when they first appeared.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss really cheap wild-caught salmon, a version of Smart Balance with fewer calories, less fat and less salt than Original; leftovers and the repaving of the rough entrance road at H Mart in Little Ferry.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Wild-caught salmon for $3.99 a pound sounds like a great deal, but the Silverbrite fillets on sale at ShopRite supermarkets don't have much eye appeal.

If your ingredients don't look good, how will the finished dish taste?

I'm not about to find out. 

I'm sticking with wild-caught Copper River Sockeye Salmon fillets from Alaska, even though they are selling for $12.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

A 1.58-pound sockeye salmon fillet we bought this week yielded six serving pieces, enough for four with leftovers (about $5 a person). 

  

Copper River Sockeye Salmon with Pesto, Lime and Fresh Mint and Oregano. I used Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale, and herbs from my garden.

Smart Balance Spread with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, above, has fewer calories, less fat and less salt than the Original version of the butter substitute, below. It was on sale for less than half-price at the Paramus ShopRite on Tuesday.

Imported organic whole wheat spaghetti from Whole Food Market prepared with Moroccan sardines, anchovies, organic diced tomatoes, chopped garlic, capers, red wine and bottled Classico pasta sauce. Most of the ingredients come from Costco.

After two small portions of the pasta and a glass or two of Chianti, I finished the meal with a simple Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix salad dressed with Italian extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Pasta and eggs. Two organic brown eggs from Costco with smoked wild sockeye salmon, Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Aleppo pepper made a great breakfast eaten over leftover spaghetti.

I emptied five small containers of leftovers for breakfast this week. Clockwise from top: Whole wheat pappardelle with Basil Pesto from Costco and pine nuts; ackee, a Jamaican fruit, which has the consistency of scrambled eggs; broccoli with garlic and steamed carrots; and chopped callaloo, a spinach-like green, prepared with sweet pepper.

Fresh Choy Sum was on sale for 98 cents a pound on Tuesday at H Mart in Little Ferry, where I also picked up prepared Korean Stewed Tofu ($3.99), Stewed Alaskan Pollock ($6.99) and Japchae ($5.49), translucent yam-flour noodles with vegetables. The potholed entrance road to the supermarket has been paved, but the parking lot is still prone to flooding.