Enjoying the many winners from Costco Wholesale

A recent addition to the fresh-fish case at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, wild-caught mahi-mahi fillets from Costa Rica take a swim in Mexican green salsa with fresh lime juice, pinches of Aleppo pepper and fresh basil leaves.

Three more winners from Costco -- Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy and Campari Tomatoes -- team up to make a beautiful salad. Two other ingredients are sliced fuyu and cucumber, and everything is dressed in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Lollo Rosa, Tango and Mizuna.

They roll off your tongue and dazzle your taste buds when they meet in a salad made with Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

The prewashed spring mix is among the many winners from Costco Wholesale that have become staples of our diet at home.

I have an Earthbound Farm salad after just about every home-cooked meal, often adding cheese, fruit and cucumbers.

Sliced fuyu, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and organic spring mix.

Reduced-fat cheese

Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy, in wedges or shredded; Ground Saigon Cinnamon, Himalayan Pink Salt in its own grinder, Organic No-Salt Seasoning, Basil Pesto, Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon -- the list of winners is long.

Aged cheese cut from the wedge is ideal to eat with fruit and cinnamon-dusted almonds or to add to fried organic eggs, using a vegetable peeler.

The rind can be diced and added to pasta sauce, lending it a distinctive flavor.

The shredded cheese gives body and flavor to Kirkland Signature Egg Whites when they are mixed together before you add them to the pan for an omelet or frittata.

The hard cheese is made from part-skimmed cow's milk, and a serving has only 1.5 grams of fat.

Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese added to organic eggs with leftover organic quinoa made in an electric cooker with organic diced tomatoes, all from Costco Wholesale. The quinoa has fewer carbohydrates and more protein than organic brown rice.

Fish in salsa

The fresh, wild-caught mahi-mahi I bought last week at the Hackensack Costco was $5.99 a pound or $2 less per pound than the same fillets I purchased at the warehouse store in December.

I squeezed fresh lime over the fish, which I cut into serving pieces, and then added a pinch of Aleppo pepper. 

They cooked for 10 minutes in Mexican green salsa I had heated on top of the stove to a gentle boil, and I ate the meaty and flaky fish and sauce over organic quinoa. 

This time, I used a preservative-free brand, Herdez Salsa Verde from Mexico, I found at ShopRite.

The label on the bottom of the plastic, 1-pound tub of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

Peeled garlic

Peeled garlic from the Christopher Ranch in California is a real convenience item, allowing you to chop up a handful of cloves, throw them into heated extra-virgin olive oil until they are fragrant, and stir-fry fresh broccoli or organic baby spinach from Costco with a little salt and red-pepper flakes.

A 3-pound bag of Monviso heirloom garlic cloves was $5.99 at the Hackensack Costco. 

Last week, I bought a bag with a use-by date of Feb. 15.

Costco Wholesale's fish buyer is casting a wider net

Costco Wholesale's frozen hake fillet prepared with organic diced tomatoes, sake and fresh lime juice. I served the wild-caught fish with Korean white-fleshed sweet potatoes that I boiled and then mashed with extra-virgin olive oil.

Also at Costco, whole farm-raised branzino from Greece.

Editor's note: Today's buffet includes the wonderful wild-caught fish available at Costco Wholesale, and other products that help you prepare healthy home-cooked meals.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I buy a lot of wild-caught fish at Costco Wholesale, and I'm accustomed to seeing flounder from Canada, cod from the Pacific and fresh Icelandic haddock.

But I did a double-take when whole, farm-raised branzino from Greece appeared in the seafood case at my Hackensack warehouse store a couple of weeks ago.

I passed, not sure the fish was scaled, recalling my surprise at bringing home a whole red snapper from Costco a couple of years ago and having to remove the scales, one of the messiest jobs imaginable.

Hake from Africa

Another surprise was frozen hake fillets sold under the Kirkland Signature label -- joining frozen cod, wild salmon and other fish. 

When I got them home, I looked on the back of the bag and saw "Product of Namibia." Costco calls them "Hake Loins."

I prepared four hake fillets the other night, steaming them in two parchment-paper packages in a 375-dregree oven.

I added the fish, fresh lime juice, sake, a little salt and spooned on organic diced tomatoes before making two packages and baking them in the oven for about 30 minutes.

The fish was good, but didn't approach the fresh hake fillet from Europe I found on sale in March 2012 at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

I may have overcooked Costco's frozen hake, and next time, I will reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes in the oven.

Above and below, a wild-caught coho salmon fillet from Alaska topped with organic diced tomatoes and pesto, and served with a wild rice blend, all from Costco Wholesale.

Pesto requires no cooking. Add it after you take the fish out of the oven. I cooked the fillets for 13 minutes in a 375-degree oven. The meal ended with a salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix dressed simply in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Coho from Alaska

On Thursday, the fresh wild salmon in the seafood case at my Hackensack Costco were labeled "Coho from Alaska," in contrast to the sockeye salmon from Alaska and elsewhere in the Northwest I have been buying for the last few months.

The skin-on coho fillets were $10.99 a pound. The coho fillets tasted as good as the sockeye.

A 64-ounce carton of Organic Pineapple, Orange and Banana Juice from Whole Foods Market was $1.99 with a coupon I obtained in the Paramus store. I blended it with Costco's non-fat Greek Yogurt and Frozen Strawberries into a thick smoothie (a 6-pound bag of Grade A California strawberries is $8.99 at Costco).

This morning, I made another smoothie with the frozen strawberries, above, and the last of frozen Maine wild blueberries I bought at Costco.

Pesto is going fast

A jar of refrigerated Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto can be used in many ways -- as a sandwich spread, on top of fresh or cooked tofu, as a pasta sauce, and added to cooked fish, frittatas and fried eggs.

A light, fluffy pesto-smoked wild salmon frittata oozing with Jarlsberg reduced-fat Swiss Cheese. The egg mixture included 4 whole organic eggs, liquid egg whites and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, all sold at Costco under the Kirkland Signature label; shredded sun-dried tomato, and a little low-fat milk. This morning, I ate a wedge with a prepared sweet-potato salad from Costco and mashed Korean sweet potatoes.

The egg mixture is poured into a hot, non-stick, 10-inch pan with oil. Add sliced cheese, smoked wild salmon from Costco, and Aleppo or another ground red pepper as the crust sets, then finish the frittata under the broiler in the oven until the top is brown, above. Add the pesto after you remove the frittata from the oven.

 

Pesto with two organic brown eggs from Costco.