Quinoa with creamy garlic, salsa-simmered cod, salad and more

In an electric rice cooker, I added three 8-ounce cups of organic quinoa, six cups of chicken broth or water, a drained can of low-sodium black beans, a can of organic diced tomatoes, lots of chopped fresh garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and a little sea salt, and mixed them well before I plugged it in. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Organic quinoa from Costco Wholesale is one of the whole grains I rely on to give me that full feeling on a no-bread, no-pizza diet.

It's a snap to prepare in an electric rice cooker with black beans and organic diced tomatoes, but it's even better when you include lots of chopped garlic cloves, which you can buy peeled at the Hackensack Costco.

The garlic turns creamy, lending moisture to the quinoa, which has fewer carbs than rice or pasta.

You can enjoy leftover quinoa at any meal -- reheated to eat with eggs in the morning or fish in the evening.

You can also use it cold as the foundation for a chopped salad.

The organic quinoa from Costco doesn't require any washing before it goes into the rice cooker.

This week, my wife picked up fresh, wild-caught Atlantic cod fillets from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack ($7.99 a pound). I prepared them in Roasted Chipotle Salsa from Whole Foods Market in Paramus, fresh lime juice, black pepper and other seasonings, above and below.

I cut up the skinless and boneless cod fillets, seasoned them with a little sea salt, added them to the boiling salsa and covered the pan. The cod was done in about 7 minutes, breaking into big flakes when I ate it with mashed and baked sweet potatoes flavored with the poaching liquid.

A chopped salad of tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden, plus celery, in a dressing of extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lime juice, balsamic vinegar, dried and fresh mint, parsley and other fresh herbs.

A salad of organic spring mix, fresh Jersey blueberries, and aged Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Italy, all from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, dressed in Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A pound of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix was $4.49 a pound. Two pounds of blueberries were $5.49, and the cheese was selling for a low $8.49 a pound.

Add a spicy Korean accent at any meal with crunchy cucumber kimchi from Arirang Kimchi at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield (1-201-313-7175).