Here are several eggselent ideas for breakfast or any other meal

EGGS IN RED SAUCE: Two organic eggs will poach in preheated bottled marinara sauce in minutes, as long as you cover the pan. I plated these with organic brown rice, prepared in an electric cooker with organic chicken stock, organic diced tomatoes, a can of black beans and olive oil. Most of the ingredients in this and the following dishes are from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

CHOLESTEROL FREE: Liquid egg whites have no cholesterol. This omelet is stuffed with reduced-fat cheese and organic Mexican-style salsa and accented with chopped fresh cilantro.

MIXING IT UP: Mixed organic vegetables and sauteed fresh baby spinach are the side dished for another egg-white omelet, this one stuffed with smoked wild salmon, grated cheese and salsa.

PASTA TWO WAYS: Organic whole-wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market, front, with marinara sauce, sardines, anchovies and chopped black olives. Whole-wheat spaghetti in a lemon, olive oil and minced garlic sauce brings up the rear.

SUNNY SIDE UP: On a gloomy morning filled with rain clouds, two organic eggs over pasta are a bright idea for a delicious, filling breakfast.

SHELLS WITH SARDINES: The Victoria-brand marinara for this seafood pasta is good right out of the bottle, but can be improved with a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, chopped black olives, a couple of ounces of red wine, a little extra-virgin olive oil, red-pepper flakes and other seasonings.

DINNER SALAD: Organic spring mix with hothouse cucumbers and tomatoes served on a bed of warm organic brown rice with black beans and diced tomatoes, all in a dressing of extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

WARMING UP TO QUINOA WITH GARLIC: Fluffy organic quinoa, prepared in an electric rice cooker with organic diced tomatoes and whole peeled garlic cloves, is another tasty foundation for a dinner salad, above and below. The garlic cloves retain their shape, but turn creamy.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

More heart-healthy meals at home from ingredients that can't hurt you

Heart-healthy wild salmon two ways -- a grilled sockeye fillet accented with chopped fresh mint, front, and smoked sockeye in a frittata with pesto and fresh tomatoes. Both fresh and smoked wild salmon, as well as prepared pesto, are available at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In northern New Jersey, food shoppers enjoy an embarrassment of riches.

Fresh fish are abundant, such as Atlantic cod from Iceland and salmon from the U.S., both wild caught and available at Costco Wholesale for $7.99 a pound and $8.99 a pound, respectively.

Organic eggs, spring mix and whole-wheat pasta are three more components of a heart-healthy diet. 

When mashing sweet potatoes, always choose extra-virgin olive oil over butter, and don't stint on fresh California garlic.

With ingredients like these, assembling heart-healthy meals at home is a snap.

Fresh tomatoes from our garden and smoked wild salmon were layered on top of an egg mixture as it set over medium heat on the stove. The 10-inch frittata finishes under the broiler, and Costco's Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and chopped fresh mint are added once it is out of the oven.

Wild sockeye salmon can be prepared on a preheated grill pan with spray oil. For medium rare in the center, cook serving portions for 6 minutes.

A wedge of frittata and two small baked sweet potatoes with nothing on them make for a hearty breakfast.

Costco's smoked wild sockeye salmon is from Alaska. It is sold under the Kirkland Signature label and comes pre-sliced in two half-pound pouches for $15.99.

Finish the frittata under a broiler on a low setting for about 15 minutes or until it browns on top.

A 3-pound net bag of sweet potatoes from ShopRite in Paramus is $2.99, but bags often weigh more.

I boil sweet potato sections and peeled cloves of Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic for about 45 minutes or until a fork goes through the sections easily, then mash them with extra-virgin olive oil and numerous seasonings, including curry powder, cinnamon, red-pepper flakes and black pepper. A 3-pound bag of California garlic was $6.39 at Costco.

Garlicky mashed sweet potatoes with an egg-white omelet (stuffed with reduced-fat Swiss cheese, smoked wild salmon and Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa, plus a pesto finish).

Serving portions of skinless and boneless Atlantic cod fillet coated in a homemade Super Spice Mixture -- just about every spice and seasoning I have, mixed in a plastic container and kept in the refrigerator. I splashed the fish with fresh lime juice before breading. The side dish is fresh callaloo, a green that originates in the Caribbean. Depending on thickness, serving portions of fish are ready after 7 minutes to 12 minutes in a pre-heated, 375-degree oven.

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, the best salad in the world, is always under $5 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, lower than at any other store I know. Here, I added tomatoes from our garden and dressed the salad with organic Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Look for Earthbound Farm packages without condensation or your salad could rot before the use-by date on the label.

Wild sockeye salmon with diced tomatoes, pesto and ripe peaches

Fresh wild sockeye salmon accented with pesto, a reduction of organic diced tomatoes and red wine, and a grilled ripe peach.

Editor's note: You'll need ripe peaches for one of my favorite preparations of grilled fresh wild salmon. Today, I also discuss the end of ShopRite's Summer Can Can Sale, and a few good buys at Whole Foods Market.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After two or three tries, I finally found some peaches that ripened on my kitchen counter for a savory and sweet preparation of fresh wild sockeye salmon.

Wild salmon fillets are widely available at Costco Wholesale, ShopRite and other stores, but I have yet to see them on restaurant menus this summer.

I grilled the fillet -- cut into six serving pieces and seasoned with sea salt and fresh lime juice -- and peach halves on the stove top.

First, in a pan, I reduced a can of organic diced tomatoes and red wine, seasoned with garlic powder, black pepper and a few red-pepper flakes, until the mixture thickened.

The prepared pesto doesn't need heating. All of the ingredients (except the wine) came from Costco Wholesale.

I started to grill halves from three peaches before I put the salmon on a preheated stove-top grill, skin-side down. Peaches take a total of 20 minutes on both sides; the salmon is cooked through in 8 minutes over medium-high heat.

Fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets were $9.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. I plated the salmon before adding the organic diced tomatoes and refrigerated pesto.

The Eastern Peaches I bought at Costco Wholesale (6 pounds for $8.49) are distributed by a Glassboro, N.J., company. They came in 100% recycled box made in North Carolina, but there is no indication where the fruit is grown. They ripened on the counter in two days.

The next day, I used the leftover reduction of organic diced tomatoes and red wine to stuff an egg-white omelet, along with smoked wild salmon, fresh spinach and reduced-fat Swiss cheese slices, above.

The omelet, made in a 10-inch pan, is enough for two. You can serve it for breakfast with leftover pasta, a baked sweet potato or organic brown rice, all good bread substitutes.

Adirondack Seltzer

ShopRite's Summer Can Can Sale ended unexpectedly on Saturday, but the store continues to offer 1-liter bottles of Adirondack Seltzer for 40 cents each or $4.80 for a case of 12.

I found two cases of Lemon-Lime at the Paramus ShopRite and three more at the Englewood ShopRite.

Salsa, coffee, wine

I don't eat chips, but love the 365 Everyday Value salsas from Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Last week, I picked up jars of Roasted Salsa Verde and Roasted Chipotle Salsa ($2.69 each for 16 ounces).

They can be heated up with fresh lime juice and used to poach fresh fish. You can then use the salsa over rice or another side dish you serve with the fish.

Leftover salsa also can be used in omelets.

A pound of organic Pacific Rim Coffee Beans were $8.99 (you can grind them in the store), and a bottle of sparkling wine from Spain (Brut) was $5.99.

What gives with Egg Beaters 100% Egg Whites at Costco Wholesale?

My wife went to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack today, looking for Kirkland Signature 100% Egg Whites, but she came home with Egg Beaters 100% Egg Whites. And she ended up paying more for less product.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I warmed up quickly to Kirkland Signature 100% Egg Whites at Costco Wholesale.

Costco introduced the 100% Egg Whites to replace Kirkland Signature Real Egg Product, which was 99% egg whites, plus color, spices, salt, onion powder, xanthan gum and other ingredients not found in the real thing.

The new liquid product was cholesterol-free and had no saturated fat, but was thin and watery.

Still, it produced terrific egg-white omelets you could stuff with smoked wild salmon, cooked fresh spinach, cheeses, salsa and other ingredients.

Egg Beaters?

This morning, my wife went to the Hackensack Costco, but couldn't find Kirkland Signature 100% Egg Whites -- six 16-ounce cartons for $9.99 that were introduced a little over two years ago.

Instead, she brought home an Egg Beaters package, which doesn't offer as much value as Kirkland Signature did, containing only four 16-ounce cartons of 100% Egg Whites for $8.99.

That means you get one-third less product (four cartons instead of six) for only a dollar less than the Kirkland Signature version.

What gives, Costco?

Is this a temporary substitute for the Kirkland Signature version? Or is this change permanent? 

Cage-free controversy

Costco has been severely criticized recently for saying it would stop selling whole eggs from caged chickens, but continuing to do so years after the pledge.

If you buy Costco's Kirkland Signature Organic Eggs, the package is labeled cage free.

There was no such labeling on Kirkland Signature 100% Egg Whites or the new version from Egg Beaters.

The latter are from Con Agra Foods in Omaha, Neb., the big packaged-food company that doesn't have the greatest reputation.

A Kirkland Signature 100% Egg Whites omelet I made this morning with my last carton. I stuffed it with cooked fresh organic spinach, two kinds of cheese (reduced-fat Swiss and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano) and salsa, and ate it with sweet plantains and leftover organic brown rice.