For breakfast: Seafood, pasta and sweet potatoes

Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta continues to be a reliable substitute for bread at breakfast as I try to maintain a 45-pound weight loss on a no-bread, no pizza diet. I made the pasta with Classico bottled pasta sauce and Black Tiger shrimp from Costco Wholesale.

The fusilli pasta and shrimp with a fluffy smoked wild salmon breakfast frittata.

To a mixture of whole organic eggs, egg whites, shredded cheese, low-fat milk and Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning, poured into a non-stick pan over medium heat, I add slices of beefsteak tomato, smoked wild salmon and Costco's refrigerated Basil Pesto. I then finished the frittata for about 15 minutes under a low broiler setting until the top was browned and the pesto was sizzling.

Cut-up Costco sweet potatoes with their skin are boiled, then mashed with extra-virgin olive oil, a little salt, powdered garlic and other seasoning for use as another bread substitute at breakfast, above left. I ate them with a section of leftover frittata and Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce.

Leftover pan-fried wild cod fillet from Costco Wholesale, plated with chopped collaloo, a collard-like green, and drizzled with Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce (Extra Hot).

Costco Wholesale's stuffed grape leaves need a little heat

Refrigerated stuffed grape leaves from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack look a lot better on the package, above, than they do on the plate, below. Frankly Fresh Foods, the maker, says they are handmade and "ready to eat," but they're not very good cold.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I was raised in Brooklyn eating grape leaves my mother grew in our garden, and stuffed with a mixture of rice and chopped meat.

She cooked them in a covered pot in water flavored with a thick tamarind sauce.

Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson makes a tasty version of stuffed grape leaves, but the ones I've eaten in Greek restaurants have been just OK.

The other day, my wife brought home Frankly Fresh Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

A 2-pound package was $10.59, which seems a little high to me.

The package says they are "handmade with seasoned rice, tomatoes, onions and red peppers," and "ready to eat."

On Wednesday night, I added the stuffed grape leaves to a dinner salad of greens, beans and beets, and was underwhelmed.

They were dense and a little dry, and they reminded me of the bland vegetarian falafel I once bought at Costco.

But this morning, I plated stuffed grape leaves with Korean-style stewed pollock and organic quinoa with tomatoes, and heated the food in the microwave for 2 minutes.

I drizzled extra-virgin olive oil on the quinoa and stuffed grape leaves, as well as fresh lime juice (the stuffed grape leaves package shows a half slice of lemon).

The stuffed grape leaves came alive. They were moist and delicious, and I'm glad my wife brought them home. 

  
      

Chewy, whole-grain organic quinoa with tomatoes is a great side dish for a frittata.

Stewed, wild-caught pollock from H Mart in Englewood with collaloo, center; and ackee and salt fish.