You can enjoy delicious meals without a lot of unhealthy animal fats

Wedges of a cheese,tomato and pesto frittata with organic whole wheat spaghetti, also dressed with pesto from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Costco's frozen mackerel stands in for salted cod with ackee, sweet peppers and onion. This breakfast included mashed Kabocha squash with extra-virgin olive oil and a baked sweet potato stuffed with Mexican-style salsa left over from our Super Bowl party.

Organic red quinoa and kale from Costco Wholesale is a great side dish and bread substitute.

Baked sweet potato, mashed Kaboucha squash and frittata.

An 8-inch frittata uses a mixture of whites and whole organic eggs.

Mexican-style salsa accents a baked sweet potato and an egg-white omelet stuffed with a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese,

Organic quinoa with organic diced tomatoes, low-sodium black beans and chopped garlic can be enjoyed hot right out of an electric cooker, especially when topped with Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix and cucumbers, all drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Hot Beet Soup at the Empire Diner on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan ($8). A House Salad was dressed in a delicious white balsamic vinaigrette ($10).

Costco's Christopher Ranch garlic with spuds, pasta

Christopher Ranch peeled California garlic cloves and skin-on sweet potatoes, both from Costco Wholesale, can be boiled together for mashing with avocado and extra-virgin olive oils, and such seasonings as cinnamon, black pepper, red-pepper flakes and a little salt.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor 

Google "Can you eat too much garlic?" and you'll discover a lively Internet discussion of the many health benefits of this onion-related bulb.

You'll also find a few cautionary tales, such as "garlic breath" and a warning that garlic is a blood thinner and shouldn't be eaten in large quantities after surgery.

One food blogger mellows chopped raw garlic by blending it with butter or sour cream, neither of which I eat.

I love cooking with Christopher Ranch garlic from California that I buy at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, and use it freely when mashing sweet potatoes and preparing pasta with oil-and-garlic.

We recently started buying the refrigerated peeled variety in 3-pound bags for $5.99 that are stamped with a "best before" date that isn't as inflexible as the one found on Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

Garlic mashed sweet potatoes and leftover baby spinach with chopped fresh garlic make great side dishes for two organic brown eggs with prepared pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, a thin slice of French-style cheese and Aleppo pepper.

Organic whole-wheat spaghetti from Whole Foods Market forms the basis of this twist on oil-and-garlic pasta with the addition of diced organic tomatoes, a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, fresh organic baby spinach, chicken stock, red wine and such seasonings as black pepper, red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs. I used about three dozen garlic cloves,1 pound of spaghetti and a half-pound of pre-washed spinach. Most of the ingredients were from Costco.

I enjoyed the last of the garlic sweet potatoes this morning with two fried organic brown eggs seasoned with a little salt, curry powder and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese.

New ways to prepare fish, Part II

Wild-caught cod in a sweet pepper-tomato sauce with mashed yams and squash.

My wife filled the blender with cut-up sweet peppers, whole garlic cloves, onion and a beefsteak tomato, then had to run out to do an errand.

I took over, squeezing juice from one and a half big lemons into the blender, and used the slow "Chop" setting to puree everything.

I poured the sauce into a non-stick pan, added a large can of organic tomato sauce from Costco Wholesale and about a half-cup of extra-virgin olive oil, and turned on the stove.

Meanwhile, I seasoned and cut up fresh wild-caught cod fillets -- $7.99 a pound at Costco -- and when the sauce was bubbling gently, put the pieces in a non-stick pan, covered it and turned up the flame.

I used lemon juice and Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning on the raw fish.

The fish turned white and was cooked through in 10 to 12 minutes.

   

We ate the cod with mashed Korean sweet yams, Kabocha squash and garlic cloves with butter substitute, olive oil and more no-salt seasoning.

 

We boil the yams with their skin and the squash with the dark-green exterior.

 

We didn't add tomato sauce to the lemony sweet-pepper sauce for fish the last time we made it.

But on Tuesday night, I re-heated 4 cups of leftover sweet pepper-tomato sauce, added a drained can of organic diced tomatoes and some red-pepper flakes, and used that to dress a half-pound of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti.

Whole wheat spaghetti in a lemony sweet pepper-tomato sauce.

 

The cod and spaghetti dinners ended with bowls of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix dressed simply in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Related article

• Two new ways to prepare fish

Fresh wild-caught fish and a fresh take on organic whole-wheat pasta

Fresh wild-caught flounder was $7.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We went shopping for dinner separately, but managed to turn out a satisfying meal of fresh wild-caught fish, pasta with grated cheese and black pepper, fresh sweet corn on the cob and organic lettuce for our salads.

My wife went to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, where she found fresh wild flounder fillets from Iceland.

Organic whole-wheat spaghetti with grated cheese and black pepper.

On the way home Friday evening, I stopped at a farmers' market, where I found fresh white corn (45 cents each) and a head of organic lettuce for $2.50.

We had the other ingredients -- from Trader Joe's and Costco -- at home.

My wife seasoned the fish fillets, dusted them in flour and fried them quickly in a non-stick pan with a little oil.

I took a half-pound of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti and cooked it in boiling water for about 8 minutes, a minute or two before the recommended cooking time of 9-10 minutes.

I drained the pasta, then finished cooking it in a pan with a cup of hot pasta water and three or four tablespoons of a butter substitute, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

After mixing them well, I added lots of grated Pecorino-Romano sheep's milk cheese and black pepper.

I added more cheese and black pepper to the portion on my plate.

I just winged it after seeing a TV show in which world traveler Anthony Bourdain enjoyed the pasta -- cacio e pepe  -- on a trip to Rome, complete with shots of the cook preparing the dish in the kitchen of a Roman restaurant.

I poured a glass of chianti.

I had the pasta first; then two fillets, hot and delicious right out of the pan, sprinkled with lime juice; and finished with a simple salad of organic lettuce, extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Fresh sweet corn was my dessert, with nothing on it.

Putting Trader Joe's on the spot

A Trader Joe's in Massachusetts.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss animal antibiotics, a  hearty dish that will make you forget about meat and other ideas for meals at home.

Consumers Union, the political and action arm of Consumer Reports magazine, is calling on Trader Joe's to stop selling meat from animals raised on harmful antibiotics.

I rely on Trader Joe's in Paramus for antibiotic- and preservative-free bacon and hot dogs.

But I've been disappointed when shopping for a holiday ham for the meat eaters in my family to find only those from conventionally raised pigs.

Here's an excerpt from a Consumers Union e-mail I received:

"You know you shouldn't take antibiotics as preventive medicine because it weakens your ability to fight really deadly bacteria later on.

 "Yet factory farms continue to pump antibiotics into healthy chickens, pigs and cows, putting you and your family at greater risk from antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

"We’re trying to get Trader Joe’s, one of the nation’s more progressive grocers, to commit to selling only meat raised without antibiotics. If Trader Joe’s agrees to source only drug-free meat, it will put major pressure on factory farms to stop feeding animals antibiotics – sparking change driven by you, not the government!

"We’re hoping to meet with company execs very soon, and show them how many consumers want meat raised without antibiotics. If we are successful with Trader Joe’s, we expect other grocers to follow suit."

I got an anonymous comment relating one reader's experience buying chicken raised on antibiotics, as you can tell from his or her description of "huge" poultry parts:

Anonymous July 30, 2012 10:16 AM

I've bought different brands of chicken from several local stores.
The meat was rubbery, translucent after cooking and just strange tasting. 

The legs were huge and when cooked gave off puddles of water rendering the juices useless for gravy. The breasts were massive resembling turkey breasts in size. 

I finally narrowed down one of the offensive brands; Amick Farms, purchased at Pricerite. Yuck. We call it mutant chicken or rubber chicken. 

I now buy only Purdue which may be bad but still tastes like chicken. I've tried some of the local natural chicken but they also look and taste like mutant chicken. I suppose we'll have to raise our own backyard chickens or become vegetarians.

Who needs meat?

Organic whole-wheat spaghetti with sardines and anchovies.

This simple tool makes easy work of opening sardine cans.

A filling dish that will make you forget meat and bread is Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti in bottled pasta sauce that gets added robustness from cans of sardines and anchovies with their oil.

I used 36 ounces of sauce (1 and a half Classico bottles), 16 ounces of spaghetti, 1 can of anchovies and 3 or 4 cans of sardines. 

I also add extra-virgin olive oil, red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs to the sauce.

The Trader Joe's package calls for cooking the pasta for 10-11 minutes, but I usually drain it and finish it in the sauce for the last 2 minutes or so.

The whole wheat spaghetti tastes like conventional pasta, but my body processes it better. A 16-ounce package of spaghetti, penne or bowties is $1.39.

H Mart food counter

The new food bar at H Mart in Englewood has counter and table seating.

After the store was renovated last year, the city closed the food counter.

Englewood has allowed H Mart to open a food counter in its renovated store.

The counter opened after the renovation, then was closed by the city. The approval came about three months ago, an employee said.

Korean Potato Salad contains mayonnaise, egg, cucumber and raisins.

Crunchy Cucumber Kimchi is one of my family's favorites.

Shin Ramyun is an instant dried noodle soup with a spicy kick.

I went to the Englewood H Mart last week after dropping my teen-age son off at a friend's house nearby.

I picked up two side dishes, Korean Potato Salad ($3.49) and Cucumber Kimchi (also $3.49), and a 5-pack package of spicy Shin Ramyun ($5.49), his favorite instant soup.

Chicken and spices

Leftover chicken went into a takeout container for storage in the refrigerator.

One of my favorite preparations for chicken and fish is coating them in spices before roasting them in the oven.

I keep a large plastic container filled with bread crumbs and spices in the refrigerator.

The container is large enough to accommodate the fish or poultry pieces, which I coat on all sides.

I use spices from Wick Fowler's 2 Alarm Chili Kit, including red pepper, paprika and dried onion, and combine them with a large can of plain or seasoned bread crumbs.

Salt in the chili kit is optional. I also omit the masa flour, a thickening agent.

Whenever I have other spices, I add them to the container. 

Recently, I added Korean black sesame seeds and a package of Fish Masala, including cumin, black pepper, fenugreek and clove leaves. 

Before that I added a package of Middle Eastern spices for kabobs I wasn't using.

Last week, I used Empire Kosher Leg Quarters, which are from free-roaming chickens raised without antibiotics (see photo above).

Tonight, I thawed and broiled two more leg quarters for my teen-age son, covering them in barbecue sauce and gochujang (Korean red-pepper paste) in the last few minutes of cooking.

I served him one leg quarter with a leftover chili-spice drumstick and organic whole wheat penne pasta in marinara sauce with anchovies.

Salad from a can

Here is what goes into a canned seafood salad.

Canned seafood salad with kimchi, tomato and smoked wild salmon.

I splurged on four cans of Bumble Bee Lump Crabmeat at Costco Wholesale to dress up my usual canned fish salad, but the single can I used got lost among the sardines, tuna and pink salmon.

Into a plastic storage contianer, I emptied one can of Moroccan sardines, one can of yellow-fin tuna, two cans of pink salmon and one can of lump crabmeat -- including all of the liquid for a moist salad.

I added chopped onion and sweet pepper, Dijon mustard, ground cumin and fresh lime juice.

I could see the bits of crab, but couldn't taste them, so next time, I'll use two cans of crabmeat and only one of salmon.

Hospital takeout

I love the salad bar's oil-free sun-dried tomatoes, beans and fresh greens.

I look forward to Wednesdays, when I volunteer at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and purchase a takeout salad from the hospital's Garden Cafe.

If there is a vegetarian soup, I buy that also for my dinner at home.

What makes Greek yogurt so pricey?

Image by Newbirth35 via Flickr

You have to dig deep for some Greek-style yogurts.

Greek-style yogurt is strained to make it thicker, but what makes it so expensive?

Fage, Oikos and Chobani are not only hard to pronounce, their inflated prices are hard to stomach.

At ShopRite supermarkets, a 32-ounce container of Chobani Greek-style yogurt is $5.99. Trader Joe's own brand of non-fat Greek yogurt is $4.99 for 32 ounces and $2.99 for 16 ounces. 

They're made here, not in Greece.

Now, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack has brought the price of Greek-style yogurt down to earth -- $6.49 for two 32-ounce containers of Kirkland Signature non-fat yogurt (about $3.25 each).

I tried a free sample with honey before I made the purchase and could not believe this thick, mouth-filling yogurt has no fat.

Up and down prices

Also at Costco, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix is up to $4.99 for 16 ounces, but those incredible, small, round Campari tomatoes  are down to $4.49 for a 2-pound package.

Fairway Market in Paramus sells two 1-pound packages of these same Sunset-brand Campari tomatoes for $5, but their taste doesn't compare to the ones from Costco.

On Tuesday, I bought a large seedless watermelon at Costco for $4.99, the lowest price so far this season. 

Today, ShopRite put seedless watermelons on sale for $3.99, a $2 discount.

Not recommended

I drove to Trader Joe's in Paramus this morning to check Greek yogurt prices and pick up a few pounds of its imported Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti ($1.39 for 16 ounces).

As good as that product is, I was disappointed with a can of Wild Pink Shrimp that I tried for the first time ($1.99 for 4 ounces).

The label says, "Crisp, tiny Oregon shrimp."

They are tiny -- about the size of the nail on my smallest finger -- but I found them far from "crisp" when I ate them over a big salad. "Mealy" is more like it.

Yuck.