More food photos: Home cooking sparkles with flavor, but holds the fat

GLOBAL BREAKFAST: Clockwise from top, two prepared items from H Mart in Englewood, Stewed Tofu and Stewed Alaskan Pollock; a baked sweet potato and a wedge of black-olive frittata.

GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN: Last week, the H Mart at 25 Lafayette Ave. in Englewood put two large bunches of spinach on sale for 99 cents. They cooked in minutes in a large covered pan with olive oil and sake, with added sea salt, garlic powder and other seasonings.

NO SHELL GAME: I ate the spinach with a generous serving of leftover organic whole wheat shells from Whole Foods Market ($1.49) prepared in marinara sauce with anchovies and sardines. I used a 40-ounce jar of sauce, 1 pound of pasta, 1 can of anchovies, drained and rinsed; and 3 cans of sardines, plus red wine, extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings.

SUNNY SIDE UP: I fried two organic eggs with grated cheese and Aleppo pepper, and ate them with leftover pasta, tofu and stewed pollock, a member of the cod family.

CRUNCHY SALSA: Fresh organic salsa from Costco Wholesale (2 pounds for $7.99) brightens a breakfast of sweet potatoes, mashed with extra-virgin olive oil, and a simple egg-white omelet dusted with Moroccan spices.

TASTES GREAT: Big Taste Tomatoes were on sale last week for 99 cents a pound at the ShopRite in Paramus. They taste as good as the smaller Campari Tomatoes sold at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro for more than twice the price. Here, I enjoyed them with a bowl of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.29 at Costco).

SNOWY FISH: A 1.86-pound skinless-and-boneless halibut fillet from Costco Wholesale ($18.99 a pound) served four. I prepared the fish with fresh spinach, pitted olives, fresh tomatoes, shredded cheese, sea salt and fresh lime juice in a large pan, and the meal was ready after 15 minutes in a pre-heated 400-degree oven. I served it with organic quinoa made in an electric cooker.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Homemade king crab salad, Costco corrects Egg Whites carton

Leftover Alaskan King Crab from our Christmas Day feast went into a salad dressed with Dijon mustard and fresh lime juice, front. I made a second mayo-free salad from canned Pink Salmon and sardines, rear. Most of the ingredients in both salads came from Costco Wholesale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The best leftover from our huge Christmas Day dinner were two long fully cooked Alaskan King Crab legs I bought at Costco Wholesale.

I also had a claw from one of the four live lobsters we boiled.

I diced celery, onion and sweet peppers; shelled the crab and lobster, and mixed everything together with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice, Chianti wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning, all to taste.

I made a second crunchy salad from three 6-ounce cans of wild Alaskan Pink Salmon and one of Season-brand Sardines, including their water and oil, also from Costco, and used the same dressing, plus ground cumin.

The new Kirkland Signature Egg Whites carton from Costco Wholesale. The previous container, which we bought in early June, was incorrect in saying there was no pull ring under the screw-off cap to deal with, below. 

A simple 100% egg-whites omelet with grated Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese from Italy available at Costco, makes a great breakfast when paired with leftover organic whole-wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market.

Costco changes Egg Whites closure, but not carton

The new, larger screw top on Kirkland Signature Egg Whites from Costco Wholesale, but the carton still carries directions on how to open the old closure. "NO PULL RING" is incorrect; under the new top, you'll find a pull ring, below left.

The new pull ring and larger screw top, left, and the original instructions on the carton, which I crush to recycle.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss preparing food at home using ingredients fron Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and other stores.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Using the 100% liquid egg whites from Costco Wholesale just got a lot easier with the introduction of a larger, easier-to-open screw top and a pull-ring seal.

Frankly, I sometimes had trouble twisting the old, smaller top, which pierced the carton as you turned it to open the 16-ounce carton.

But the six-pack of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites my wife picked up at the Hackensack store for $7.99 on Saturday had cartons with the new top and printed instructions for the old closure, which had no pull ring.

The new screw top is the size of the one you find on a half-gallon of milk or orange juice.

Egg Whites are still listed on the Costco receipt as "KS Real Eggs," the name for the old product, which contained coloring and other ingredients.

A wedge from a 10-inch frittata made with a 16-ounce carton of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites, low-fat milk, shredded Asiago Cheese, salt and chopped garlic, scallion, sweet pepper and onion. After the frittata finished cooking under the broiler, I poured Garlic Chipotle Salsa from Trader Joe's and La Costena Mexican Green Salsa over the top.

A salad made entirely of ingredients from Costco Wholesale except for the dressing, organic extra-virgin olive oil from Turkey and balsamic vinegar from Italy. I used Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Sunset-brand Campari Tomatoes and Gourmet Cucumbers; Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Organic Made In Nature Dates, which are sun dried and unsulfured.

Organic whole wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market prepared with Kirkland Signature Marinara Sauce, chopped Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic (peeled) from Costco Wholesale and Moroccan sardines in tomato sauce. 

Fresh, wild-caught porgy ($1.99 a pound at H Mart in Englewood) seasoned and poached in Trader Joe's Salsa Verde and fresh lime juice, and served with California-grown brown rice, also from the Korean supermarket chain. 

Beautifully sliced Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon made putting together a dinner salad easy, using Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Campari tomatoes and cucumber, blueberries and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, all from Costco. Complement the luxurious taste of the naturally smoked salmon with a full-bodied red wine, such as Giordano Nebbiolo D'Alba from Italy.

I used organic extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the salad.

Cooking with arugula, pasta shells and whole whiting

Organic whole-wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market in bottled marinara with added white wine, extra-virgin olive oil, anchovies, capers, organic diced tomatoes, baby spinach and arugula.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The peppery flavor of arugula -- one of my favorite greens -- was immediately evident when it started showing up in Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix a few weeks ago.

I have fond memories of a white pizza with arugula -- also called rocket -- and prosciutto I enjoyed more than once at Trattoria La Sorrentina in North Bergen, but that was before I stopped eating meat. 

So, when I saw a 5-ounce package of arugula at the International Food Warehouse in Lodi this week, I decided to add it a cooked pasta dish and my usual salad of spring mix, cucumber and tomato.

In making the pasta dish, I put about a half-pound of organic baby spinach in a large colander and poured the hot water and pasta over them, then added drained pasta, spinach and fresh arugula to another pot with the sauce I had prepared. 

The imported whole-wheat pasta shells took less time to cook al dente than what is listed on the package. 

I used a half-pound of shells and half of a 32-ounce bottle of Kirkland Signature Marinara.

The 5-ounce package of pre-washed arugula was $1.99. At Costco Wholesale, 1-pound plastic tubs of pre-washed organic spring mix and organic baby spinach were $4.99 and $4.29, respectively.

I added peppery arugula, Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and fresh blueberries to an organic spring mix salad with cucumbers and tomato wedges, all dressed in extra-virgin olive oil and Ponti Balsamic Vinegar, which is free of caramel color.

Coastal Valley Farms Organic Spring Mix was available on Tuesday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack for the same price as Earthbound Farm's organic salad, but I couldn't find a use-by date on the package of the new product. Both are $4.99 for 16 ounces.

Whole whiting

One of our favorite whole fish is fresh, wild-caught whiting, which is flaky, sweet and has a minimum of bones.

They're inexpensive, too, usually $3.99 a pound at H Mart, the Korean supermarket chain.

Whiting also is a relatively small fish that has potentially much less mercury than larger fish.

On Friday, my wife seasoned, floured and pan-fried whiting she had cut in half. 

I had a leftover piece of wild king salmon for dinner, but got to the whiting this morning.

An egg-free breakfast of pan-fried whiting, upper right; fried plantains, and spicy Korean stewed tofu and Alaskan pollock, both from H Mart in Englewood.

Pan-fried whole whiting are sweet and easy to eat.

Leftover wild king salmon with pesto, Aleppo pepper and fresh lime juice.

A new pesto?

The price, jar size and ingredients list are the same, but the refrigerated Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto I brought home from Costco Wholesale on May 6 seems different ($7.99).

The great taste is still there, but it has lost the bright-green color of the Italian-grown basil that is one of the main ingredients.

Basil Pesto still makes a great sandwich spread and pasta sauce, with no heating required, and can be added as a garnish to frittatas, baked sweet potatoes and soup.