Pesto, sweet pears, smoked wild salmon, garlic and more

Mouth-filling Garofalo Whole Wheat Pappardelle from Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood is wonderful dressed with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale with added pignoli nuts, also from Costco.

Ripe Bartlett Pears from Costco Wholesale are perfectly at home in a salad of red-leaf lettuce from H Mart; Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, also from Costco; and tomatoes from our garden.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

First, get good ingredients. Then, assemble them into great meals at home.

That's where Costco Wholesale in Hackensack comes in.

Many of the meals we prepare are based on Costco ingredients, including a growing selection of organic and non-GMO items.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, a refrigerated product made with basil from Italy, is great for dressing pasta and salads; adding to frittatas just out of the oven or using as a sandwich spread.

Nothing else matches the rich taste combination of fresh basil, grated Italian sheep's milk cheese and extra-virgin olive oil.

A roll-up of red-leaf lettuce, reduced fat Jarlsberg Swiss cheese, smoked wild Alaskan salmon and canned fish salad -- pink salmon, yellow-fin tuna and Moroccan sardines, dressed with Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin -- has Costco written all over it.

An egg-white omelet stuffed with smoked wild Alaskan salmon and served with an organic brown rice-lentil-quinoa combination and slices of Jersey beefsteak tomato covered with melted Swiss cheese. Most of the ingredients are from Costco.

My wife boiled Kabocha Squash from H Mart with lots of peeled Christopher Ranch Monviso Heirloom Garlic from Costco Wholesale, then mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil. This morning, I did the same with sweet potatoes and added two Italian cheeses, shredded Parmigiano Reggiano and grated Pecorino Romano, both from Costco.

Great prices at Costco

A 6-pound box of Bartlett Pears from Oregon were $6.99. They were ripe and ready to eat.

A 2-pound package of sliced Jarlsberg Lite Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese was $8.99, an increase of 50 cents.

A 22-ounce jar of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto was $7.99.

A 3-pound bag of peeled Christopher Ranch garlic from California was $5.99 (must be refrigerated).

A 10-pound bag of Earthbound Farm Organic Carrots were $7.99, and three 1-liter bottles of Bolthouse Farms Organic Carrot Juice were $7.39.