Why I broke my no-bread diet, eggs with salmon, best takeout value

A layered sandwich on toasted 100% whole-grain bread includes sliced Swiss cheese, organic salad greens, smoked wild salmon, and a canned-fish salad with scallions and sweet peppers in a Dijon mustard-fresh lime juice dressing. Most of the ingredients are from Costco Wholesale.

A second version substitutes sliced cucumbers and plum tomato for the greens. Both times, I spread the toasted bread with Dijon mustard and Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce or a sweeter, less spicy Korean red-pepper paste.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When a lifelong bread lover goes on a no-bread, no-pizza diet to lose weight, falling off the wagon can be easy.

On Thursday, I couldn't resist dipping chewy slices of Balthazar Bakery bread into extra-virgin olive oil at a new Roman-style Italian restaurant in Englewood.

On Saturday, I skipped breakfast to buy a dozen bottles of red wine on sale at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

When I got home, I quickly assembled a thick sandwich of canned-fish salad -- tuna, salmon and sardines -- with reduced-fat cheese, organic salad greens and wild smoked salmon.

On Monday, I made a second version, bigger and messier than the first, adding sliced cucumber and plum tomato, and gochujang instead of a hot chili sauce. 

Still, I at least skipped lunch on the two days I indulged in the guilty pleasure of a sandwich, and my daily weigh-in showed no weight gain.

Now, I'm off bread again, and substituting whole wheat pasta, organic brown rice, sweet potatoes and quinoa at breakfast and dinner.

A breakfast of three organic eggs and wild smoked sockeye salmon, both from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, didn't need bread or a side dish.

I dressed a pound of organic whole-wheat spaghetti, one of my favorite bread substitutes, in the juice of three medium limes, extra-virgin olive oil, minced garlic and a half-cup of hot pasta water.

There was so much food in this Meal To Go from Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood, I left the eggplant parmigiana, lower right, for the next day. The label on the takeout container says 12 ounces, but on my kitchen scale, the food weighed closer to 2 pounds, below.

Plugging Jerry's dinners

We try to take a break from cooking or eating leftovers at least once a week with a restaurant-quality takeout dinner from Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

On Friday, I found several seafood dinners in the refrigerated case after 4 p.m., when they are marked down to $5.99 from $7.99.

I bought two, Tiger Shrimp alla Siciliana for my wife and Linguine with Seafood for me.

My dinner also contained Salmon Tartare, Eggplant Parmigiana, Fava Bean Salad and Roasted Potatoes.

Delizioso, and a bargain even at full price.

In addition to shrimp stuffed with breadcrumbs, raisins and pignoli nuts, this Meal To Go had two beef-filled mushroom caps, sea-shell pasta salad and steamed vegetables.

Garlic lover's pasta, wild pesto salmon

Two full bulbs of California garlic -- at least a dozen and a half cloves -- go into a simple sauce for organic whole wheat spaghetti, above.

A second version of Garlic Lover's Pasta uses organic whole wheat fusilli and adds fresh organic baby spinach.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Garlic -- and lots of it -- chopped fresh or canned diced tomatoes, and extra-virgin olive oil are all you need to prepare a simple and satisfying sauce for pasta. 

You can add grated cheese to the pot as well as at the table for the finishing touch.

I use Trader Joe's organic whole-wheat pasta ($1.39 for 16 ounces). The California garlic and organic diced tomatoes come from Costco Wholesale.

For breakfast, I crowned Garlic Lover's whole wheat fusilli and spaghetti with an organic brown egg.

Wild for salmon

Another simple and simply delicious dish is wild salmon fillets that get a squirt of fresh lime juice and a pinch or two of Aleppo pepper before they go into the oven.

I roast salmon in a 375-degree oven for  8 to  12 minutes, depending on whether I want it rare for me or cooked through for other family members.

Once they come out of the oven, all you have to do is spoon on Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto is a refrigerated product that you can use at room temperature for wild salmon, above; or as a sandwich spread and pasta sauce.

Canned-fish salad -- pink salmon, yellowfin tuna and sardines -- is great in sandwiches, but when you're on a no-bread diet, you can pile it high for breakfast with organic spring mix, kimchi, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers. I dress the canned fish in Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice and ground cumin.

Why I cook in large batches. When dinner is as easy as plating and reheating leftover wild salmon with pesto and organic fusilli with garlic, tomato and spinach, followed by a salad, what's not to love?

New at Costco: Fresh troll-caught wild king salmon

Wild-caught king salmon with diced tomatoes, sake and Dijon mustard.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I went looking for more fresh Copper River salmon at Costco Wholesale on Monday and landed a real treat: Fresh troll-caught wild king salmon.

At $14.99 a pound, the king salmon was a dollar more a pound than the fresh wild Copper River sockeye fillets that also were available.

But it's clear these thicker fillets came from a much bigger fish.

The label says, "Product of USA."

I wanted to prepare them with ripe peaches, tomatoes and capers, but couldn't find any peaches at my Hackensack warehouse store.

When I got home, I emptied a can of Kirkland Signature Organic Diced Tomatoes into a non-stick pan and added several ounces of sake and a little fresh lime juice.

I brought that to a boil to cook off the alcohol, then turned down the flame and added a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, mixing it in well.

I cut the 1.6 pound king salmon fillet into pieces that varied from 2 inches to less than an inch thick, added ground Aleppo pepper, placed them into the pan, covered it and turned the flame to medium.

I cooked the salmon for 8 to 10 minutes.

I removed and ate the thinnest pieces first, spooning sauce over them and adding chopped fresh mint and oregano from the garden.

King salmon with ground Aleppo pepper poaching in a sauce of organic diced tomatoes, sake, lime juice and Dijon mustard.



I wanted to serve the salmon over organic quinoa prepared in an electric rice cooker, but it wasn't ready in time and I had to have the nutty whole grain as a second course covered with diced-tomato sauce from the salmon.

Next time, I'll use less fresh mint or none at all, because the peppery herb tended to distract from the rich taste of the salmon.

Troll-caught signifies the king salmon are caught by small boats trailing as many as 50 lines with hooks, allowing crew members to throw back fish that are too small or which they didn't want to catch.

Good food that won't clog arteries or add inches

A well-balanced meal of whole Spanish Mackerel, stir-fried asparagus and quinoa with Korean seasoned vegetables. The fish was poached in a sauce of organic diced tomatoes, red wine, Dijon mustard and non-fat Greek yogurt.

The fresh-fish display at H Mart, the Korean supermarket in Englewood, where the wild-caught, silvery Spanish Mackerel were $3.99 a pound on Thursday. Fresh-water carp was 99 cents a pound, but I would have had to buy the whole fish, which looked like it weighed 20 pounds or more.

Canned-fish salad (pink salmon, yellow-fin tuna and sardines) with Earthbound Farms Organic Spring Mix, Sunset-brand cucumbers and Italian olives.

I added a Gala Apple, above, and diced celery, garlic and onion to the canned-fish salad, along with Dijon mustard, ground cumin and fresh lime juice, all to taste.

The crusty, butter-free baguette from Balthazar Bakery in Englewood is still only $2. I slice and freeze it for sandwiches for other members of the family, but allow myself only the "heel" or end of the loaf with a big dinner salad.

Hemp is a legal variety of cannabis (marijuana) that is grown for fiber and seeds, such as the nutty tasting Hemp Hearts I found at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack last week, above with a salad and below. A 28-ounce bag was a pricey $14.89.

Manitoba Harvest raw, shelled hemp seeds are a product of Canada, vegan and made with 100% wind power, according to the bag, and are good for sprinkling on salads, cereal and yogurt.

Wild-caught haddock from Iceland coated with a Super Spice Mixture and served with brown rice and diced organic tomatoes prepared in an electric cooker. The spice mixture is made by combining every spice and dried herb I have in the house in a large plastic container, which I keep in the refrigerator.

Salted cod fish with whole-wheat fusilli pasta in bottled sauce, above, and with onion, sweet pepper, tomato and ackee, a Jamaican fruit available in cans, below.

All of the canned, fresh and salted fish I used in these home-cooked meals came from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack or H Mart, a Korean supermarket in Englewood.

H Mart also sells 16 ounces of seasoned vegetables for bibimbap, a rice-based comfort dish, but I used them with organic quinoa and didn't add the usual ground beef (Jinga Seasoned Vegetables, $7.69).

The best 100% whole-wheat pasta I've found comes from Trader Joe's, where it is only $1.39 for a full pound and organic, too.

Organic diced tomatoes, organic brown rice, organic quinoa and Earthbound Farms Organic Spring Mix are available at Costco Wholesale. 

Imported canned ackee in brine is available at ShopRite in Rochelle Park and Hackensack Market on Passaic Street. 

 

H Mart helps me make a quick dinner

Prepared Korean food with homemade, stir-fried collard greens.

Dinner on Monday night was stewed, wild-caught Alaskan pollock; thin, pan fried slices of whiting, stewed tofu and collard greens -- all from H Mart in Englewood.

The Korean supermarket has a terrific selection of prepared food, fresh fish and an array of fresh greens for stir-frying.

The stewed pollock and tofu are made with red pepper, but the whiting is so bland it needs gochujang, a red-pepper paste in a squeze bottle, and it has a few small but annoying bones.

Pan-fried whiting with gochujang, tofu and store-bought guacamole.

Pan-fried whiting, left, and a variety of Korean pancakes.

H Mart's kimchi selection, but I prefer to buy Arirang Kimchi where it is hand-made a couple of blocks away at 191 W. Englewood Ave. in Engflewood.

On Sunday, my wife picked fresh, wild-caught whole sea bass for $5.99 a pound at the Englewood H Mart at 25 Lafayette Ave. in Englewood.

I seasoned mine, rubbed the skin with olive oil and fresh lime juice and roasted it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Reduced-fat cheese, lettuce and smoked wild salmon.

On Monday, I picked up bulgogi marinade and two heads of red-leaf lettuce for a Korean barbecue dinner the meat eaters in the family were planning to have.

My wife thinly sliced free-range Nature's Reserve whole beef tenderloin for filet mignon, which she is marinating before cooking it on a stove-top grill. 

The cooked beef slices are dipped in gochujang and wrapped in lettuce, along with rice and kimchi, before they go down the hatch. 

I sometimes grill shrimp as a substitute for the beef. 

You can use lettuce wraps for other dishes, such as canned fish salad with diced celery and apples, Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin.

Or just use lettuce to wrap slices of reduced-fat cheese and smoked wild salmon with whole-grain Dijon mustard. 

H Mart's stewed tofu and pan-friend whiting are $6.99 each, collard greens were 99 cents a pound and stewed tofu usually is $4.99.

Lettuce wraps with canned fish salad.

 

Layers of flavor for breakfast

Image via Wikipedia

How much can you cram into your breakfast sandwich?


This morning, I started with two toasted slices of 100 percent whole grain bread, spread hummus on one and added organic salad greens, a small egg-white omelet with Aleppo pepper, a slice of muenster cheese, smoked wild sockeye salmon and Dijon mustard.


If  I had pesto, it would be at home in this sandwich. I ate a Campari tomato with za'atar thyme mixture on the side, along with kimchi, but tomato slices with za'atar would work, too. I'll try that tomorrow. Everything in my sandwich -- except Aleppo pepper and za'atar -- can be found at Costco. Fattal's Syrian Bakery in Paterson stocks the pepper and thyme mixture.


My eating habits have come a long way since the 1980s, when I'd eat an Egg McMuffin (photo) for breakfast, drink coffee and finish with a cigarette.

More meat-free meals

Image via Wikipedia

Fish and seafood have been our salvation during the meatless regimen we have been following for nearly two weeks.

This morning, I made a canned fish salad with yellowfin tuna (photo), sardines, chopped red onion, Dijon mustard, cumin and lemon juice, and put it on a sandwich spread with pesto. For dinner last night, we had flounder fillets in Mexican red sauce, black beans and yellow rice.

The Pasta Prima-brand lobster ravioli from Costco we prepared Wednesday evening were delicious with salad and wine.

On Friday, during an unscheduled visit to the Hackensack Costco, I found spinach patties and saw but didn't buy wild-salmon patties. (I have an unopened bag of sockeye salmon fillets from Alasaka in my freezer.)

How about this for dinner? Heat a spinach patty with thin-sliced Swiss cheese, top it with a salmon patty with same or different melted cheese, and spoon light tomato sauce over them.