Here are several eggselent ideas for breakfast or any other meal

EGGS IN RED SAUCE: Two organic eggs will poach in preheated bottled marinara sauce in minutes, as long as you cover the pan. I plated these with organic brown rice, prepared in an electric cooker with organic chicken stock, organic diced tomatoes, a can of black beans and olive oil. Most of the ingredients in this and the following dishes are from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

CHOLESTEROL FREE: Liquid egg whites have no cholesterol. This omelet is stuffed with reduced-fat cheese and organic Mexican-style salsa and accented with chopped fresh cilantro.

MIXING IT UP: Mixed organic vegetables and sauteed fresh baby spinach are the side dished for another egg-white omelet, this one stuffed with smoked wild salmon, grated cheese and salsa.

PASTA TWO WAYS: Organic whole-wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market, front, with marinara sauce, sardines, anchovies and chopped black olives. Whole-wheat spaghetti in a lemon, olive oil and minced garlic sauce brings up the rear.

SUNNY SIDE UP: On a gloomy morning filled with rain clouds, two organic eggs over pasta are a bright idea for a delicious, filling breakfast.

SHELLS WITH SARDINES: The Victoria-brand marinara for this seafood pasta is good right out of the bottle, but can be improved with a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, chopped black olives, a couple of ounces of red wine, a little extra-virgin olive oil, red-pepper flakes and other seasonings.

DINNER SALAD: Organic spring mix with hothouse cucumbers and tomatoes served on a bed of warm organic brown rice with black beans and diced tomatoes, all in a dressing of extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

WARMING UP TO QUINOA WITH GARLIC: Fluffy organic quinoa, prepared in an electric rice cooker with organic diced tomatoes and whole peeled garlic cloves, is another tasty foundation for a dinner salad, above and below. The garlic cloves retain their shape, but turn creamy.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

You can enjoy delicious meals without a lot of unhealthy animal fats

Wedges of a cheese,tomato and pesto frittata with organic whole wheat spaghetti, also dressed with pesto from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Costco's frozen mackerel stands in for salted cod with ackee, sweet peppers and onion. This breakfast included mashed Kabocha squash with extra-virgin olive oil and a baked sweet potato stuffed with Mexican-style salsa left over from our Super Bowl party.

Organic red quinoa and kale from Costco Wholesale is a great side dish and bread substitute.

Baked sweet potato, mashed Kaboucha squash and frittata.

An 8-inch frittata uses a mixture of whites and whole organic eggs.

Mexican-style salsa accents a baked sweet potato and an egg-white omelet stuffed with a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese,

Organic quinoa with organic diced tomatoes, low-sodium black beans and chopped garlic can be enjoyed hot right out of an electric cooker, especially when topped with Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix and cucumbers, all drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Hot Beet Soup at the Empire Diner on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan ($8). A House Salad was dressed in a delicious white balsamic vinaigrette ($10).

Costco changes Egg Whites closure, but not carton

The new, larger screw top on Kirkland Signature Egg Whites from Costco Wholesale, but the carton still carries directions on how to open the old closure. "NO PULL RING" is incorrect; under the new top, you'll find a pull ring, below left.

The new pull ring and larger screw top, left, and the original instructions on the carton, which I crush to recycle.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss preparing food at home using ingredients fron Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and other stores.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Using the 100% liquid egg whites from Costco Wholesale just got a lot easier with the introduction of a larger, easier-to-open screw top and a pull-ring seal.

Frankly, I sometimes had trouble twisting the old, smaller top, which pierced the carton as you turned it to open the 16-ounce carton.

But the six-pack of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites my wife picked up at the Hackensack store for $7.99 on Saturday had cartons with the new top and printed instructions for the old closure, which had no pull ring.

The new screw top is the size of the one you find on a half-gallon of milk or orange juice.

Egg Whites are still listed on the Costco receipt as "KS Real Eggs," the name for the old product, which contained coloring and other ingredients.

A wedge from a 10-inch frittata made with a 16-ounce carton of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites, low-fat milk, shredded Asiago Cheese, salt and chopped garlic, scallion, sweet pepper and onion. After the frittata finished cooking under the broiler, I poured Garlic Chipotle Salsa from Trader Joe's and La Costena Mexican Green Salsa over the top.

A salad made entirely of ingredients from Costco Wholesale except for the dressing, organic extra-virgin olive oil from Turkey and balsamic vinegar from Italy. I used Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Sunset-brand Campari Tomatoes and Gourmet Cucumbers; Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Organic Made In Nature Dates, which are sun dried and unsulfured.

Organic whole wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market prepared with Kirkland Signature Marinara Sauce, chopped Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic (peeled) from Costco Wholesale and Moroccan sardines in tomato sauce. 

Fresh, wild-caught porgy ($1.99 a pound at H Mart in Englewood) seasoned and poached in Trader Joe's Salsa Verde and fresh lime juice, and served with California-grown brown rice, also from the Korean supermarket chain. 

Beautifully sliced Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon made putting together a dinner salad easy, using Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, Campari tomatoes and cucumber, blueberries and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, all from Costco. Complement the luxurious taste of the naturally smoked salmon with a full-bodied red wine, such as Giordano Nebbiolo D'Alba from Italy.

I used organic extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the salad.

'Never on Monday' is my rule at Hackensack Costco

On Friday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, some of the free samples contained poultry, such as the mini tacos, above. The samples are prepared and offered by employees of a company called CDS, and I don't know whether it is affiliated with Costco.

 Editor's note: Today's buffet includes a warning about free samples at Costco Wholesale, the simple pleasures of preparing meals at home, a visit to my favorite Korean tofu house and shopping at H Mart in Englewood.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Don't shop for food when you're hungry, especially on Mondays at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, where you'll have a hard time finding any free samples.

Last Monday, the only samples that didn't contain chicken, which I don't eat, were tiny cups of aloe drink.

Two CDS employees confirmed that the fewest samples are provided on the first day of the workweek.

At the Hackensack warehouse store on Friday, I tried a little salad with queso fresco and sweet-and-sour pickles, which gave me gas and a bloated feeling.

Two other free samples I saw, ravioli and mini tacos, contained chicken and cheese.

One CDS employee said fewer samples are offered on Mondays, because they are "slow."

Simple food, simple pleasures

Two Kirkland Signature organic brown eggs served over leftover organic brown rice prepared in an electric cooker with Costco's organic diced tomatoes. One yolk is covered with za'atar thyme mixture, left, and the other has shredded Asiago Cheese and Aleppo pepper. The price for two dozen organic eggs hasn't changed ($6.99), but Costco has reduced the size of the paper label by two-thirds.

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix and Sunset-brand cucumbers and Campari Tomatoes make a great salad, especially with sodium-free almonds I roast at home and dust with ground cinnamon from Vietnam -- all available at Costco Wholesale. The dressing is extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A 3-pound bag of the almonds went up recently by about $3 to $14.99, likely as the result of the drought in California.

Kirkland Signature 100% Egg Whites and reduced-fat Swiss cheese slices from Costco make a great omelet, especially with bottled Mexican green salsa or salsa verde, above, available at Hackensack Market, ShopRite and other stores.

In the last few weeks, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix has exploded with the peppery flavor of arugula, above and below. Spring mix over warm organic brown rice adds up to a simple, delicious dinner.

Cinnamon-dusted almonds and a little Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Italy are a couple of welcome additions to a salad of pre-washed organic spring mix. The Italian cheese, made from part-skimmed cow's milk and aged more than 24 months, is $11.49 a pound at Costco.

What's for breakfast? A wedge of sweet potato frittata with organic brown rice and Mexican green salsa.

I picked up a 6.5-pound bag of sweet potatoes at Costco on Friday ($5.99), baked five of them until the natural sugar bubbled out and sliced two uncooked ones for a sweet-and-savory frittata of whole eggs, whites, shredded cheese, no-salt seasoning and chopped garlic, all topped with bottled La Costena Mexican green salsa.

Holier guacamole

I have enjoyed the preservative-free Wholly Guacamole I've been buying at Costco for the past few years, and it's now organic.

You still get three 16-ounce portions, which freeze beautifully, and the price is $10.99, compared to $9.49 for the non-organic version.

Hass Avocados are used, along with garlic and other ingredients, and the result is a deliciously smooth, thick guacamole perfect for eating on its own, mixing with bottled salsa or spreading on a sandwich.

Also on Friday, we picked up more Coleman Organic Chicken, which is labeled "hatched, raised and harvested in USA."

Drumsticks were $1.99 a pound, but skinless-and-boneless thighs were $4.79 a pound, a very un-Costco-like price.

No tofu tonight

Feeling gassy and bloated from free food samples at Costco on Friday, I stuck with a simple Korean seafood pancake and side dishes that night at our favorite tofu house, So Gong Dong in Palisades Park.

But the meat eaters in the family went to town, ordering Pork Soft Tofu "more spicy" with rice ($9.99) and Beef Barbecue ($15.99).

So Gong Dong serves four free side dishes, including cucumber kimchi, above, and cabbage kimchi, below, and when you finish them, they are replenished without any need to prompt the servers.

Side dishes of seasoned bean sprouts, above, and radish and raw squid, below, the spiciest of the four.

A Korean pancake or pajun with seafood serves four and comes with a dipping sauce, below ($11.99).

A scissor is supplied to cut the beef barbecue.

Part of the place-mat menu.

The second-floor entrance of So Gong Dong, 118 Broad Ave., Palisades Park (201-313-5550). Open seven days.

Wild shrimp from Mexico

At H Mart in Englewood on Saturday, I asked to use the public restroom upstairs, and discovered it wasn't renovated when the store got a welcome makeover.

Still, the food downstairs looked as good as always, and I picked up large, wild shrimp from Mexico ($14.49 a pound), collard greens (99 cents a pound) and from the wide selection of prepared food, Stewed Tofu ($3.99), Stewed Pollock ($6.99) and an Assortment of Pan-Fried Seafood Pancakes ($6.49), all from Jinga, a food company in Queens.

One-pound packages of sweet Driscoll's Strawberries from California were two for $3.99.

At H Mart in Englewood, clockwise from the top, seafood pancakes, seaweed-and-rice rolls called kimbap and spicy fried chicken.

The selection of panchan or side dishes is extensive.

Going nuts and getting soaked at Costco Wholesale

These 2-pound bags of raw hazelnuts at Costco Wholesale are imported from Canada, but the label says, "Product of Turkey or USA." They are $10.99 a bag.

Northern New Jersey had another day of on-and-off thunderstorms on Monday, but the rain had stopped when I got out of the car at Costco Wholesale, armed with a full-size umbrella.

As I write this, even more heavy rain is falling today, just as it did on Monday and last Friday.

On Monday, by the time I had checked out with more than $106 worth of fresh wild king salmon, smoked wild salmon, beefsteak tomatoes, seedless watermelon, canned fish and other items, Hackensack was hit by another wind-whipped rainstorm.

Back of the lot

It was a long walk to the car, which I usually park at the back of the lot to avoid the congestion of lazy shoppers who insist on a space closest to the door.

The umbrella kept my head and shoulders dry, but the wind-whipped rain soaked my shirt sleeves and the back of my pants, not to mention everything in my cart.

When I opened my car doors, the seats got wet, and when I grabbed the soaked box of 4 Tropicana half-gallons, the box broke and flew out of my hand onto the carpeted floor in front of the back seat.

A heavy, oblong seedless watermelon (no bargain at $7.49) nearly slipped out of my hands before it landed on a car seat.

One shopper abandoned a bag of sweet peppers at the Heinz Tomato Ketchup display. Did he or she think ketchup is a vegetable?

Kirkland Signature spices come in the same size jar, but their weight varies.

Snacking nuts

In the store, a display of raw, sodium-free hazelnuts caught my eye.

I decided to try a 2-pound bag for snack food, and roasted them at home in a 275-degree oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes, then dusted them with Kirkland Signature Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Vietnam.

We've been doing the same with  Costco's salt-free raw almonds, and four of us usually finish a 3-pound bag in about 10 days.

At 2 pounds for $10.99, the hazelnuts are more expensive than the almonds, but they have a distinctive taste.

At $2.59 for a 10.7-ounce bottle, Kirkland Signature Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Vietnam is one of the cheapest items in the Hackensack warehouse store. Only 3 pounds of bananas at $1.39 are cheaper.

Leftover wild king salmon with steamed organic quinoa, both from Costco.

A canned-fish salad over organic spring mix, with beefsteak tomato and hothouse cucumber, all from Costco. Canned tuna, pink salmon, and sardines are combined with chopped celery and apple, and dressed with hummus, Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin.

A quick egg-white omelet with Trader Joe's Jalapeno Yogurt Cheese and Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco.