Good food that's also good for you

Kitchen-sink hot cereal contains oatmeal, chia seeds, pine nuts and dried and frozen fruit, and I add fresh fruit and low-fat milk. As with many dishes, I make a large batch to last a few days.

Jamaican ackee and salt fish (cod) served with boiled sweet potato and a whole-wheat dumpling. The dish gets a lift from Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce.

Two organic eggs served with stir-fried collard greens and Chinese broccoli, plus light potato gnocchi from a Meal To Go purchased at Jerry's Gourmet and More in Englewood.

Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli with canned sardines in tomato sauce. For this lower-sodium version, I drain and rinse the sardines under running water.

The pasta spirals stand in for bread at breakfast the next day, when I serve them with an egg-white omelet containing pesto and reduced-fat sliced cheese.

A 5-pound box of Clementine Hybrids from Israel were on sale for $6.99 at the Englewood H Mart. They are harder to peel than Spanish Clementines, but taste better.

Two organic eggs with sun-dried tomatoes -- served with king whiting steak, upper right, and mashed Korean yams, sweet potatoes and Kabocha squash.

From the vegetarian menu at Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles in Hackensack: Crispy tofu tossed with fruit and carrots in lime juice and chili paste ($10).

Wondee's shrimp soup with mushrooms, lemon juice and chili paste ($4).

Wondee's fried rice with fresh basil leaves, another vegetarian dish ($10).

Steam softens the bright colors of large shrimp topped with sweet and sour chili sauce ($17). We took a no meat and poultry pledge at Wondee's three years ago, and I'm the only family member who still sticks to it, relying on great seafood dishes like this one. 

Honesty is always on sale at Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market names the New Jersey fishing port, the day boat and the captain who landed these sea scallops. "Dry" means no preservatives were added.

As someone who prefers fish over fowl, I always look over the seafood counter when I visit Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Whole Foods doesn't sell live lobster, but remains tops when it comes to fresh seafood -- delivered seven days a week, much of it from its own processing facility.

This past Thursday, I got a kick out of the sign with local day-boat sea scallops -- naming the port, boat and even the captain.

These were big, U-10 scallops -- about 10 to the pound -- and were priced at $24.99 a pound. 

If you eat pork, what more do you need to know?

Opposite the butcher counter, the store advertised its naturally raised bacon with a sign painted on the floor in front of a refrigerated case.

This is the kind of honesty we should find at every food store and restaurant, but sadly Whole Foods is nearly alone in telling consumers where produce, meat and seafood come from and how they were raised, grown or caught.

We have to rely on the store or restaurant for this kind of information, because outside of Consumer  Reports magazine, few newspapers or other publications bother to report on the origin of the food we buy.

The so-called consumer columnist at my local daily newspaper doesn't even acknowledge the existence of organic food.

Pistachio-coated Sea Scallops at Palm Restaurant in Manhattan.

On Thursday, Whole Foods had organic California red grapes on sale for $2.29 a pound -- a discount of more than 30%. I bought 2.65 pounds.

I also picked up naturally raised beef liver for my wife, son and mother-in-law from the butcher counter's frozen meat case, priced at $3.99 a pound.

My daily grind

My first stop on Thursday was Fairway Market, also in Paramus, to replenish my stock of freshly ground coffee.

The Brazil Dark Roast was the only one on sale, for $6.99 a pound, so I asked for 2 pounds Turkish 
grind.

The selection of freshly roasted beans at Fairway Market in Paramus.

I also took advantage of a sale on those wonderful Campari hothouse tomatoes -- three 1-pound packages for $5 (not $3, as I wrote originally).

I love extra-virgin olive oil, but won't pay the $17 or $18 a liter for some of the better ones at Fairway.

Luckily, the store allows shoppers to sample the oils by soaking small pieces of baguette in them.

My guilty pleasure was taking four heels -- the ends of the bread -- and soaking them in expensive bright-  and dark-green olive oils. Delish.

Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Pasta for breakfast.

Whole-wheat pasta

I've been eating whole-wheat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner since I gave up virtually all bread and pizza to lose weight.

The pasta, along with brown rice, gives me the same full, satisfied feeling I got from bread, but my body processes it better and I am still able to lose weight gradually.

Now, Consumer Reports magazine has given its "Very Good" rating and recommended organic whole-wheat spaghetti from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.

The magazine's October 2012 issue, which I just got in the mail, calls both "sweet, nutty, whole-grain flavor, chewy texture much like regular pasta."

I've been buying Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Fusilli and Penne for more than a year. A 16-ounce package is $1.39.

Whole Foods sells organic whole-wheat spaghetti under the 365 Everyday Value brand, but it cost more than Trader Joe's version.

The powerful lure of familiar foods

Icelandic haddock with Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce from Costco Wholesale.

A pot of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli with sardines.

Brown rice. Whole-wheat pasta. Whole-grain bread. Air-conditioned dining.

These were some of the missing elements during our long weekend at Round Hill Hotel and Villas, one of the most expensive resorts on the island of Jamaica.

We ate very well, of course, enjoying lots of organic vegetables and greens, and intensely sweet papaya and mango, as well as fresh seafood.

But the first dish I prepared when I got home was a big pot of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti with sardines, anchovies and their oil.

I really missed the full, satisfied feeling this comfort food gives me.

And because I've sworn off bread and pizza to lose weight, I eat whole-wheat pasta with eggs in the morning, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.

I occasionally have a little bread crust when eating out, but the dinner rolls at Round Hill are nothing to speak about, and white toast is the only kind served in the morning.

This past Sunday morning at our Round Hill cottage, I made a little sandwich of ackee and salt fish with a half-slice of unbuttered white toast.

It wasn't worth the calories.

A frittata of organic eggs, grated cheese and beefsteak tomato.

For breakfast, I added leftover mashed garlic sweet potato.

At Round Hill, we enjoyed eating lunch and dinner under almond trees shading a terrace with a glorious view, but the next day, we got to sit in an open, upper-level dining space that was cooled with ceiling fans.

Best of all would have been an air-conditioned dining room, given the hot and humid August weather.

Since our return, I've prepared simple food -- such as snowy haddock fillets from Iceland topped with Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce, both of which  I found at Costco on Tuesday.

The fresh, wild-caught fish was $7.99 a pound.

To go with the haddock, I whipped up mashed Trader Joe's sweet potatoes with their skins and whole cloves of garlic, moistened with good Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with a little salt, organic no-salt seasoning and black pepper.

The first wild king salmon I've seen at Costco was $11.99 a pound.

A 37-ounce bottle of Roasted Pineapple & Habanero Sauce was $7.69.

I've been adding Costco's Cello-brand grated Pecorino Romano sheep's milk cheese and low-fat milk to omelets, which fluff up nicely.

This morning, I took six Kirkland Signature Organic Brown Eggs and mixed them with a little milk and several large tablespoons of this terrific grated cheese, which I usually eat over whole-wheat pasta or sprinkle on soup.

I seasoned the cheesy egg mixture before pouring it into a 10-inch non-stick pan that had been heated up with olive oil.

After the crust was set, I added three thick slices of beefsteak tomato from my garden and more grated cheese, then finished the frittata under the broiler.

I ate about a third of the frittata with mashed garlic sweet potato.

A plate of intensely sweet papaya at Round Hill Hotel and Villas.

Round Hill's Ackee and Salt Fish, Callaloo and Fried Dumplings.

We had breakfast in the upper dining room at Round Hill on Saturday and on Sunday, the staff prepared breakfast at our cottage.

I had Ackee and Saltfish both mornings, and both times noted how little salted cod was used compared to the version we make at home.

I also noticed that canned Grace-brand ackee was used on Sunday, even though I had seen an employee carrying two big plastic bags of fresh ackee to the kitchen the day before.

My wild-salmon boat comes in

The first wild-caught salmon arrived on Thursday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. The fresh sockeye fillets, from Alaska's Copper River, fetch a premium of $13.99 a pound.

Shopping at Costco Wholesale on the Friday before a major holiday weekend isn't for the timid, but  something drew me to the warehouse store in Hackensack today.

In the past few days, I've called the store and had my wife ask employees about the arrival of the season's first fresh wild salmon, which docked on May 21 last year at $13.99 a pound, a dollar less than in 2010.

This year, the deep orange-red fillets from Alaska's Copper River arrived on Thursday, and the price is the same.

In a couple of weeks, if that, the Copper River fish will be replaced by other fresh wild salmon at $8.99 a pound, guaranteeing good eating through the first days of October.

I sprinkled six portions with salt, squeezed on lime juice; and added Aleppo pepper, chopped fresh mint and oregano from the garden. I roasted them at 450 degrees.

The fresh fish needed only 10 to 12 minutes for medium rare.

I pulled the fish out of the oven after 7 minutes, but the fillets were still raw in the center, so I cooked them some more. 

I ate a medium-rare fillet with organic whole-wheat pasta, Black Tiger shrimp from Costco, a salad of organic spring mix and white wine.

A can of anchovies and oil added to bottled marinara sauce will cook away, but leave behind a wonderful robustness. I cooked the pasta for the last 3 minutes in the sauce.

Whole-wheat spaghetti from Trader Joe's is terrific morning, noon and night.

Four pounds of Black Tiger shrimp from Vietnam are $41.99. They are designated U-15, meaning there are about 15 per  pound. I also saw U-8 farmed shrimp at Costco today.

My wild-salmon fillet weighed 1.69 pounds.

I spent more than $108 on food at Costco today.

I bought our third or fourth watermelon of the season for $5.99, but there is no scale to tell you the price per pound. 

Other customers thump the melons, listening for I know not what. I choose the biggest and heaviest I can find, and I've never been disappointed.

With fresh wild salmon only a couple of miles away, life is good.

I didn't see organic carrots, so picked up a 10-pound bag of Bolthouse Farms conventional carrots for $5.99.

Three half-gallons of Organic 1% Milk were $9.59, six Champagne Mangoes from Mexico were $5.79 and 1 pound of Kirkland Signature Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon was $15.79.

Seedless watermelon and fresh carrots.

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