Salad-bar spinach omelets, kimchi rice and fresh wild-caught fish

Fresh spinach from the cafe salad bar at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, where I volunteer one day a week, and reduced-fat Swiss Cheese from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack are terrific for stuffing egg-white omelets. Here, I served the omelet with sweet potatoes mashed with extra-virgin olive oil, cinnamon and other seasonings.

This morning, I used the last of the salad-bar spinach for another egg-white omelet, this one made with grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Costco Wholesale, za'atar thyme mixture and Aleppo red pepper, the last two from Fattal's, 975 Main St., Paterson.

An easy snack uses leftover organic brown rice, which I prepared in an electric cooker with organic diced tomatoes, and Arirang Kimchi, made and sold in a storefront at the H&Y Marketplace, 1 Remsen Place, Ridgefield.

My wife seasoned and pan-fried fresh whole croaker she bought on Sunday for $2.99 a pound at the H Mart, 28 Lafayette Ave., Englewood. Whole papaya, Kabocha squash, mustard greens and scallions also were on sale.

She also purchased two large wild-caught red snappers for $5.99 a pound at H Mart. She seasoned the fish and prepared it in a covered pot with fresh thyme, sweet peppers, onion and garlic. The light, flavorful sauce included extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lime juice and the liquid the fish gives up during cooking.

My wife cut up, seeded and boiled the Kabocha squash, including the dark-green skin, then mashed it with extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings. This morning, the mashed squash was a great bread substitute with two organic eggs from Costco with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Aleppo red pepper.

--VICTOR E. SASSON