Containers of leftovers take over my refrigerator

This morning, containers filled with leftovers made putting breakfast on the table a snap.

Editor's note: We prepare meals at home five or six days a week, relying on high-quality ingredients from Costco Wholesale, ShopRite and Whole Foods Market. But at times, the leftovers seem overwhelming. Today, I also report on a takeout meal from Wondee's, a great Thai restaurant in Hackensack.  

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Cooking large quantities yields lots of leftovers and cuts down on meal-preparation time.

But, then, our refrigerator becomes packed with meals we prepared in the past few days, and we "lose" food that gets shoved to the back of shelves.

Still, being able to assemble a fortifying breakfast in just the time it takes to plate your leftovers and reheat them in the microwave is a great time and money saver.

Breakfast plates, above and below, filled with leftovers. Above, a sweet potato, cheese and pesto frittata; mashed sweet potatoes, organic whole-wheat shells with salted cod and pesto; peppery mustard greens and store-bought stewed tofu from H Mart in Little Ferry. The ingredients came from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and Whole Foods Market in Paramus. This breakfast eliminated two large containers crowding my refrigerator shelves.

Sweet potatoes three ways: Sliced, boiled and layered in a frittata; baked and mashed with extra-virgin olive oil. Tofu and fried green plantains also are on the plate, as part of a breakfast that allows you to explore your roots.

Buying big sizes

We buy large quantities from Costco Wholesale, where most food comes in oversized packages, and on Amazon.com.

And we cook large quantities, such as the four cups of Lundberg Organic Long Grain Brown Rice (Amazon.com) I prepared in an electric cooker for dinner Monday night with a can of diced organic tomatoes, chopped fresh garlic and pine nuts, all from Costco.

That rice will reappear at breakfast, topped with two fried organic brown eggs (sunny side up) from Costco, allowing me to break the yolks and mix them with the whole grains. 

Sweet potato frittata and a baked sweet potato make a filling breakfast.

A wedge of frittata with leftover organic whole-wheat pasta shells and salted cod fish dressed with refrigerated, ready-to-use Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto.

Wondee's takeout

With a family member recuperating from a broken leg, we decided to do Saturday night takeout from one of our favorite restaurants, Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles, 296 Main St., Hackensack (201-883-1700).

Saturday is usually the day we eat dinner out.

I made sure to get my favorite dish, Som Thum, a crunchy fresh green-papaya salad in a tart dressing with peanuts, green beans, tomato and ground dried shrimp ($8).

Fresh green-papaya salad from Wondee's.

We also ordered Thome Yum Koong, a spicy soup with shrimp and mushrooms ($4 for small); Geuw Nam, wonton soup with roast pork ($3.50 for small); Thai Fried Rice ($10.50), and a whole red snapper steamed with chili peppers, garlic and lemon juice, a dish called Pla Ma Now ($18).

Part of the fish is in a container in the refrigerator, and my wife is planning to have it for lunch on Wednesday.

Favorite things, pasta with greens and Wondee's

The perfect forkful of handmade egg tagliatelle from Italy with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, both from Costco Wholesale. I used two generous tablespoons of the refrigerated pesto for 4 ounces of the noodles, which cook in just 4 minutes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

Editor

One of my favorite things is a bowl of handmade egg tagliatelle dressed in Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto.

Just 4 ounces of the imported noodles yield a dozen or more perfect forkfuls dressed in one of the best pasta sauces on earth.

For an advocate of eating lower-carb, whole-wheat pasta as part of a no-bread, no-pizza diet, these Filotea-brand pasta ribbons are a guilty pleasure that show up now and again at my Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

The basil in the Kirkland Signature pesto is imported from Italy.

A Super Spice Mixture -- a combination of every spice in my cupboard and refrigerator -- is perfect for breading chicken, pork, beef and fish fillets, such as wild haddock from Costco Wholesale, above. The mixture, which I refrigerate between uses, starts out with several packages of Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili Kit (omit the masa flour), available in supermarkets.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon are two of my favorite items from Costco Wholesale. Here, I used them in a frittata with egg whites and whole organic eggs, also from Costco, served with leftover Chinese takeout shrimp and vegetables, and brown rice.

Addictive kimbap -- Korean seaweed, vegetable, fish and rice rolls -- from Jinga, a food company in Queens, are half-price after 4 p.m. at the H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave., in Englewood. Last week, I paid $3.24 for a 1-pound tray of kimbap with Korean pickles and wickedly hot sliced jalapenos instead of $6.49.

Two other favorites from H Mart are stewed wild-caught Alaskan pollock ($6.99), front, and stewed tofu ($3.99), served here with mustard greens and a baked sweet potato. The pollock and tofu, which can be eaten hot or cold, are prepared with soy, red-pepper powder, garlic, scallion and other ingredients.

Under the category of fish and greens, we often prepare wild sea bass from H Mart stuffed with okra and callaloo, a canned, spinach-like green from Jamaica, and showered with fresh lime juice.

The pesto-smoked salmon frittata is made with reduced-fat sliced Jarslberg Lite Swiss Cheese from Costco that melts beautifully, above.

Organic whole-wheat spaghetti from Whole Foods Market in Trader Joe's canned Marinara Sauce with sardines, anchovies and fresh dandelion leaves.

Pasta with greens

I prepared organic whole wheat pasta with greens again, but couldn't find the baby kale I used the last time.

Instead, I bought 1.8 pounds of dandelion, a foot-long leafy green the Greeks call "horta," for 89 cents a pound at the International Food Warehouse in Lodi.

At home, I washed them and chopped them into 3-inch sections, adding them to the hot water in which the pasta was boiling in the last minute of cooking time.

I then drained pasta and greens, and transferred them to anther pan containing the bubbling sauce, which included three cans of sardines and a can of anchovies (drained of oil and rinsed).

The last time, I folded the baby kale into the sauce along with whole wheat shells.

I didn't find any difference in color retention when I added the greens to the pasta water, but next time, I'll chop the leaves smaller to avoid clumping.

For breakfast, a fried organic egg with a pinch of Aleppo pepper makes a nice topping for leftover whole wheat spaghetti.

A three-tomato, three-cheese frittata gets added flavor from leftover marinara sauce and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto. It also includes fresh and sun-dried tomatoes; shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, Jarlsberg Lite Swiss Cheese and Pecorino Romano Cheese in the pesto, all from Costco. 

Flavors of Wondee's

The snow was falling and the wind blowing, but we got a warm welcome during a late Saturday afternoon visit to Wondee's at 296 Main St. in Hackensack.

As I ate spicy shrimp soup, salad with crispy tofu and fruit, and jumbo shrimp in wine sauce, I marveled at all the wonderful Thai flavors that give this food such vibrancy.

Lemongrass, wilted leaves of fresh basil, chili paste, lemon juice, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, ginger and other accents are matched by an abundance of vegetables in nearly every dish.

At Wondees Fine Thai Food & Noodles in Hackensack, Talay Thai Shrimp ($17), front; Lamb with Panang Curry ($14) and Pad Kraprow Fried Rice with Pork ($10.50).

From the Vegetarian Menu at Wondees, Yum Rod Pedt, a salad of crispy tofu tossed with oranges, carrots and onion, and dressed with lime juice and chili paste ($10). Fresh cilantro and romaine lettuce that can be used for wrapping also are used.

Thome Yum Koong is shrimp soup with lemon juice, mushrooms, chili paste, lemongrass and other ingredients ($4 for small). Wondee's is closed on Mondays.

Are New York prices always higher?

A Trader Joe's in lower Manhattan sells fruit by the piece.

Would you pay 79 cents for an orange, even if it's organic?

This seaweed snack weighs far more than the same product sold in Korean markets.

This sliced Yogurt Cheese costs the same in the Manhattan and Paramus stores.

I paid the same price in Paramus for this excellent extra-virgin olive oil.

At the charming Cafe Cluny in Manhattan, a cup of coffee will set you back $4, plus tax. 

Have you seen an intelligent discussion -- on TV or in newspaper food pages -- comparing restaurant prices in North Jersey and Manhattan?

You'd think the city's presumably higher labor, food, rental, insurance and transportation costs would translate into much higher prices than across the river in Bergen County.

But prices in Manhattan restaurants appear to be competitive, and in some cases lower.

Liquor profits

One reason is that most city restaurants can rely on big profits from ridiculously marking up wine and beer, a luxury not afforded a large number of BYOs in North Jersey.

City restaurants offering naturally grown or raised food on their menus also far outnumber their counterparts here.

Again, liquor profits allow them to buy and serve higher quality food.

Another factor is the number of times a restaurant can turn over its tables each night.

A Manhattan restaurant, in the course of the day, can seat 5, 10, 15 or more customers at the same table, while a place in Bergen County is lucky to turn over a table 5 times. 

Food-market prices

At the Whole Foods Markets in SoHo and Columbus Circle, prepared food is sold for $8.49 a pound -- 50 cents more than in the Paramus market.

But I was surprised to find several items I buy at the Paramus Trader Joe's -- including extra-virgin olive oil and sliced yogurt cheese -- are being sold for the same prices in the Trader Joe's on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan (Chelsea).

Table service

Great service also is more common in Manhattan, as we experienced last December at Lupa, an osteria from Chef Mario Batali, though a slow kitchen and small portions detracted from the experience.

I've had nothing but great service during Manhattan's winter and summer Restaurant Weeks, when a 3-course lunch is knocked down to $24.07, from about $45 on the a la carte menu. 

Service can be the undoing of a North Jersey restaurant, though some of our favorite ethnic BYOs still manage be attentive and deliver orders quickly.

Three that come to mind are Wondee's and Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, and So Gong Dong in Palisades Park.

A tale of one sauce and two dinners

Fresh fish at Costco Wholesale in South San Francisco, Calif. The warehouse store carries wild-caught fish from the Pacific that New Jersey shoppers never see at their Costco.

Editor's note: Today's bill of fare includes how to turn one sauce into two dinners, reduced-fat cheeses and a few sales items I found at Whole Foods Market and H Mart.

We love the wild-caught fish fillets available at Costco Wholesale, and cooking them with tomatoes ensures good eating for at least two home-cooked dinners.

No recipe is required. Anyone who can open cans and boil pasta can turn out two satisfying meals.

I started with fresh Pacific cod fillets from the Hackensack Costco for $7.99 a pound and two cans of tomatoes I had in the cupboard -- a large can of whole peeled tomatoes and a smaller can of diced organic tomatoes with sea salt.

I emptied the cans into a deep, 12-inch non-stick pan with a glass cover, added a few ounces of olive oil and seasonings, including powdered garlic, red pepper flakes, and dried Italian herbs, and the juice from two limes from the refrigerator.

I covered the pan and brought the tomatoes to a boil over a medium-high heat.

I cut the large, long fillets into pieces of roughly 4 ounces to 6 ounces, added a little salt and put them into the tomatoes, lowering the heat to medium and covering the pan.The flaky fish was ready in about 15 minutes.

Rice and pasta

I used a rice cooker to prepare organic long-grain brown rice with lentils. I started the rice first, because that took about 30 minutes. I spooned the fish with the tomatoes over the rice and added a salad, wine and seltzer for a wonderful dinner.

There was plenty of sauce left, so the next night, I heated it up in a smaller sautee pan with a cover and used a separate pan to boil about one-third of a pound of Colavita whole-wheat capellini, which took 4 minutes.

I drained the pasta, added it to the sauce, mixed them together, covered the pan and cooked the pasta for another 2 minutes, then turned off the heat to allow the pasta to soak up the sauce.

I ate this pasta in the fish-flavored sauce with leftover cod, another salad and grated cheese. 

Other fish

Fish and tomatoes go together well, so this preparation is terrific for any of the other fillets found at Costco, such as wild-caught flounder and haddock, and farmed catfish, or the many whole fish sold at H Mart, the Korean supermarket chain.

Alternately, you can use a 32-ounce bottle of pasta sauce, plus a small can of tomato sauce, to prepare the fish on the first night, yielding a thicker sauce for the pasta on the second night.

I also like to add a can of anchovies and their oil to the sauce for a more robust flavor, though I didn't do so this time. 

When boiling pasta, it's not necessary to use the 4 to 6 quarts of water called for on the package nor to salt the water, especially if your sauce and fish have added salt.

The capellini, which is like angel hairs, cooked in 2 to 3 inches of water.

Old cheese

Grana Padano from Italy once was called "caseus vetus" or "old cheese," according to the small print on the package I bought at the Hackensack Costco for $9.49 a pound.

The wedge of grainy cheese, made with part-skimmed cow's milk and aged over 18 months, is sold under Costco's Kirkland Signature label.

The cheese and fresh fruit make a great dessert.

Other reduced-fat cheeses available at Costco include thin-sliced Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese at $9.99 for 2 pounds and sliced Finlandia Swiss, Cheddar. Havarti and Colby Jack, also $9.99 for 2 pounds.

The Jarlsberg has 50% less fat than regular cheese, the Finlandia 25% less fat than full-fat cheese.

I use the Jalrsberg Swiss in omelets, eat it with fruit or roll it up with Kirkland Signature smoked wild salmon for a snack.

Sale items

On Monday at H Mart in Little Ferry, I picked up a box of 16 Champagne mangoes from Mexico for $9.99, a savings of $3.

Fresh collard greens were 99 cents a pound. Two prepared items -- stir-fried japchae or translucent yam-flour noodles and kimbap or a roll with seaweed, rice, vegetables and imitation crab -- were $4.99 each for a 1-pound package.

On Tuesday at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, 59-ounce bottles of Indian River Select 100% Florida Orange Juice (not from concentrate) were 2 for $5 -- about the same price per ounce as Tropicana in the 64-ounce cartons at Costco.

A wedge of fig cake with Marcona almonds from Valencia, Spain, was $7.99 a pound -- $2 a pound less than at Fairway Market in Paramus, the only other store where I've seen this product.

Wondee's

We had a terrific meal at Wondee's on Saturday evening, seated at a table near the front plate-glass windows, and we got the Thai soups and salad we ordered in only about 5 minutes.

I especially like the tofu salad with its sweet-sour-spicy dressing, fruit and lettuce leaves. We chose a whole fresh red snapper steamed with garlic and chili, and served on a fish-shaped metal plate over a burner ($18).

The rest of the family had won ton soup with pork, and steamed shrimp-and-pork dumplings. 

Wondee's, 296 Main St., Hackensack; 201-883-1700.

BYO. Free parking in rear lot.

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