Fresh herbs from the garden are easiest way to give your meals a lift

Every spring, fresh mint plants fill a box on the deck of my home in northern New Jersey, giving a lift to meals and allowing me to prepare mojitos with Cuban rum. We also grow a little rosemary, oregano and basil.

Chopped fresh mint, basil, oregano and rosemary accent flounder fillets poached in green salsa. I served the fish and spooned the salsa over leftover organic brown rice with organic black beans and organic diced tomatoes.

The flounder was $7.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale, and the thin fillets took less than 5 minutes to cook in a covered pan. The 365 Everyday Value Roasted Salsa Verde (16 ounces) was from Whole Foods Market. I added fresh lime juice.

Chopped fresh herbs are the finishing touch for a simple egg-white omelet stuffed with Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa from Costco and grated cheese.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Stovetop-grilled wild salmon with pesto, lime and fresh herbs

Fresh wild sockeye salmon from Costco Wholesale grills on the stove top skin side down in about 10 minutes. After I took the fish off the heat, I added Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and chopped fresh herbs -- mint, oregano and basil. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The price of fresh wild salmon continues to fall at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, making this wonderful fish even easier to enjoy.

I bought a 1.62-pound fillet of sockeye salmon for $9.99 a pound, enough for six serving pieces and plenty of leftovers.

On Wednesday night, I used a large All-Clad stove-top grill pan that covers two burners of my gas stove, spraying on canola oil and turning the heat to medium high to preheat it.

After a few minutes, I put three serving pieces on the grill over each burner -- skin side down. They sizzled.

The other side had been seasoned with Himalayan Pink Salt from Costco.

While the fish is cooking, I squeeze fresh lime juice over the serving pieces, which were lightly salted before they went on the grill. You won't find this vibrant color in artificially colored farmed salmon nor will it have the robust flavor of wild-caught fish. You can see the veins of heart-healthy fat.

I flip the serving pieces over to cook on the other side for a few minutes. They come out juicy, good enough to eat cold the next day over a salad.

Pesto, Aleppo pepper and herbs

After I took the fish off the heat, I season the skin side with optional Aleppo pepper, spooned on a little Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco and added chopped fresh herbs.

I ate two of the six pieces, and followed them with leafy Chinese broccoli I blanched in boiling water for a few minutes, and seasoned with a little salt, garlic powder and sesame oil.

This fresh, wild, delicious and more affordable sockeye salmon has become a weekly treat, and there are a few months left to the season.

Bravo.