It's easy to find good heart-healthy food here, there and everywhere

The Ahi Tuna Salad at the Suburban Diner, 172 Route 17 north in Paramus, includes rare, sesame-encrusted fish; romaine lettuce, toasted almonds, mandarin orange sections and crisp wontons ($16.50). I asked for the Asian Sesame Dressing on the side, and found it too sweet.

From Maguro Sushi House in Rochelle Park, a Spicy Tuna and Crab Roll (about $8.50). A variety of Maguro rolls are available in the cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, 350 Engle St., Englewood.

A Seaweed Salad from Maguro Sushi House also is sold in the hospital's cafe (about $3.50).

I often use the $8 dining card given volunteers at the Englewood hospital to buy fresh spinach from the cafe's salad bar. I prepare it in olive oil and sake, adding red-pepper flakes, a little sea salt and other spices.

Japchae, translucent noodles made from sweet-potato flour, are among several meatless, non-spicy Korean dishes from Jinga, a caterer in Queens, N.Y., that are sold at H Mart supermarkets, including the store at 25 Lafayette Ave. in Englewood.

Slices of Kimbap, a Korean sushi roll, are both soft and crunchy, and addictive. Trays include Korean pickles and sliced jalapeno pepper.

Stewed Tofu comes with a spicy red-pepper sauce, and sliced jalapeno peppers are the kicker.

A Tilapia Francese Dinner from Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St. in Englewood, includes pasta, vegetable, dumpling and stuffed zucchini, above and below.

Jerry's restaurant-quality Meals To Go are marked down to $5.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left.

A 64-ounce jar of crunchy Arirang Mahk or Cabbage Kimchi is $12 at the source, a storefront in the H&Y Marketplace shopping center, 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield. The kimchi is handmade without MSG.

At the H&Y Korean supermarket next door to Arirang Kimchi, 1-pound packages of strawberries from Florida were on sale for $1.99 each today, and 18-ounce containers of blueberries from Chile were only $2.99 each.

When I got home, I had a snack of Arirang kimchi and japchae, translucent noodles with vegetables ($4.99 for a 1-pound container made in the kitchen of H&Y Marketplace).

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

In Englewood, these sushi rolls may be just what the doctor ordered

Spicy Tuna and Salmon Rolls from Maguro Sushi House in Rochelle Park are a recent addition to the fare offered to visitors, employees and volunteers in the cafeteria at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A hospital cafeteria might not seem like a good place for takeout in Englewood, where you'll find Balthazar Bakery, Jerry's Gourmet & More and Best Dumplings, just to name three terrific options.

But since I began volunteering at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, I've always used my $8 dining card to take home a hearty soup or fresh spinach, spring mix and other items from the cafeteria's great salad bar.

Now, the Drapkin Family Garden Cafe is offering tasty inside-out rolls from Maguro Sushi House in Rochelle Park and other Asian fare.

I liked the Spicy Tuna and Salmon Rolls I brought home on Wednesday afternoon ($8.63), especially the absence of any sweetener.

Ingredients listed are ground tuna and chopped salmon with cucumber, all mixed with a special hot sauce and caviar.

They have proven too popular. I found some on Wednesday afternoon after 4, but when I returned to the hospital on Thursday afternoon, they were sold out.

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, 350 Engle St., Englewood. Cafeteria is open until 8:30 p.m. Hospital parking is $5.

On Wednesday afternoon, there were two trays of sushi rolls available, above. But on Thursday, the sushi and seaweed salad sold out before 3 p.m. Fried vegetable dumplings also are available at the cafeteria grill.

Free bread at Jerry's in Englewood

Customers hoping to shop at Jerry's Gourmet in Englewood found it closed today.

But there was bread for the taking in three large bags outside the exit.

Editor's note: On Wednesdays, I spend several hours in Englewood, where I volunteer at the hospital and then enjoy visiting some of the small city's great food stores.

A rare sight in Englewood today was an empty parking lot at Jerry's Gourmet & More on South Dean Street.

When I stopped by around 4:30 this afternoon, only one car was parked there, and two or three other people drove up, saw the store was closed, shrugged  and took off.

A woman seated in the parked car said she had stopped to send e-mails from her smart phone, not shop at Jerry's, which is known for its restaurant-quality takeout, cheese, wine, hundreds of Italian food products and lots of free samples.

I had just driven the few blocks from Balthazar Bakery, where I purchased a crusty baguette -- still $2 -- and a dozen assorted dinner rolls.

At Jerry's, I had hoped to pick up a container of Italian olives with whole garlic cloves for only $3.99 a pound. 

At the entrance door, I saw a small printed sign saying the store would be closed today and would reopen on Thursday (Jan.3)

I haven't stopped at Balthazar Bakery since I went on a no-bread, no-pizza diet.

Balthazar's incredibly crusty baguette still is only $2.

I made a rare visit to Balthazar Bakery to pick up bread for my growing teenage son, who mentioned how much he missed its baguette and dinner rolls.

The retail and wholesale bakery opened in November 2002, but getting out of its parking lot was a nightmare for many years, because vehicles parked at the curb blocked drivers' view of cars racing down two lanes of twisty, one-way South Dean Street.

Today, I was able to use a mirror the bakery finally put up on a telephone pole near its exit to see approaching traffic.

My dinner salad from the Garden Cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center includes sun-dried tomato, beets, tofu, soybeans, mozzarella cheese, peas and beans.

The salad bar in the Garden Cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is a terrific source of sun-dried tomatoes, which have become a favorite ingredient in omelets and frittatas.

I bought sun-dried tomatoes in oil from Costco Wholesale for years, but began using the oil-free ones from the hospital after I became a volunteer. 

The salad bar was $5.93 a pound, and a 12-ounce cup of vegetarian lentil soup was $1.92.

Sun-dried tomatoes in open-face egg-white omelets, above and below.

  

I also use sun-dried tomatoes with whole organic eggs from Costco.

After I leave the hospital on Wednedays, I get to make the rounds of the great food stores in Englewood, including Jerry's, Arirang Kimchi, H Mart and others.

The Korean supermarket on Lafayette Avenue has finally repaired the exit that had been torn up and left unpaved for many weeks.

The new exit at H Mart in Englewood on Dec. 23. For years, the drainage grate was sunken and the pavement broken, which was a real problem on rainy days.

Just what the doctor ordered

The Garden Cafe salad bar at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

I usually make a big salad, and add a small soup, right.

My first impressions of the cafeteria at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center came as I walked past it three times a week on the way out from sessions in cardiac rehab.

It was before 10 a.m., and often, there was nothing on the salad bar. I saw whipped cream and strawberries nearby, and assumed the worst.

That was last year. 

This year, I am volunteering at the hospital on Wednesdays and finishing my noon-to-4 p.m. shift with a meal in the Drapkin Family Garden Cafe on the first floor, which is open to employees and the public.

Volunteers get a dining card worth $8, which just about covers a big salad and small soup. The salad bar is 53 cents an ounce.

I pile fresh spinach leaves and spring mix into a clear plastic container, adding chickpeas, kidney beans, beets, sun-dried tomatoes, cucumber, cherry tomato, olives and other items, drizzling everything with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The cafe usually has a wonderful, non-meat soup, such as butternut squash, corn chowder, potato and leek, and thick vegetable barley (shown in photo).

Today, the non-meat soup was cheddar and broccoli, so I passed. 

Unfortunately, the opening on the cafe's recycling container is too small for the plastic container,  forcing me to take it home to recycle.


Drapkin Family Garden Cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, 350 Engle St., Englewood. Open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.