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.

A robust pasta sauce without meat

Image by stopthegears via Flickr

Try to cook pasta until it's a minute or two short of al dente, 
drain it and then finish it in the sauce.

You've seen those robust, red pasta sauces on menus, the ones made with lamb, rabbit, even wild boar. 


It's a ragu, yet it has nothing in common with the bottled sauce of the same name. So, what do you do if you want a ragu, but don't eat meat?


I tried to answer that question on Tuesday night, when I prepared a ragu of salted fish and cabbage for my dinner of whole-wheat pappardelle -- a sturdy, flat noodle that is nearly an inch wide.


My pasta dish was tasty, but the proportions were wrong: I used too much fish and not enough red sauce, so I added another jar of bottled Jersey Tomato sauce to the leftovers, which I refrigerated.


Next time, I'll use a 32-ounce bottle of Fairway Market pasta sauce, a half-pound of salted pollock, one quarter of a medium-size cabbage, a can of anchovies with their oil, Italian seasoning, three or four garlic cloves, and a half-pound of dried pasta.


First, sautee the garlic until it's fragrant, then add the cabbage, which you have to cut up into small pieces. Next, add the bottled sauce and the anchovies and oil, and simmer over a medium-low flame. Season with dried herbs.


Meanwhile, in a separate pot filled with water to cover the dried pollock or cod, boil the fish for about 30 minutes to get out some of the salt. Drain, rinse, chop it up and add it to the sauce. 


Ideally, you'll drain the pasta you've boiled in a third pot a minute or two before it's al dente, and finish it in the sauce.


Using salted fish and cabbage gives a Caribbean spin to the sauce, and a handful of dried red-pepper flakes wouldn't be out of place.


Good appetite.


Fair way or high way?


Earlier Tuesday, I drove to Fairway Market in Paramus to buy two pounds of Brazil Dark coffee beans (Turkish grind), on sale for $6.99 a pound.


I also picked up three, 32-ounce bottles of organic lemonade, peach lemonade and mango lemonade for $5.


But some of the other prices were too high: cherries for $4.99 a pound, compared to $3.99 at ShopRite (and as low as $2.49 a pound on sale); and a 2-pound bag of Canadian mussels priced by the pound, not by the bag.


When I saw "$3.99" on the sign, I thought it was for 2 pounds, as in other stores. But when the fishmonger threw the bag on the scale, I looked closer and saw the letters "lb." on the sign.


I told him to forget about it. At Whole Foods Market in Paramus, 2 pounds of Canadian mussels are $5.99 and $5.49 on sale. At H Mart, 2 pounds of Maine mussels are usually $2.99, but they are not as clean.


And, of course, Fairway shows its concern for New Jersey's environment by being one of the few stores that don't credit you 5 cents or 10 cents for bringing reusable bags.


Organic grapes


On the way home, I stopped at ShopRite in Paramus, but couldn't find the organic red grapes advertised in the store flier for $1.99 a pound. I bought several other items.


I found the organic grapes this morning at the ShopRite in Hackensack, but looking at the receipt now, I realize I was charged the price for conventional grapes -- 99 cents a pound -- even though "Organic" is written clearly on the plastic bag.