Read the label, buy good ingredients and prepare simple meals at home

REDEFINING PLAIN: Before I grabbed a big canister of half-price "plain" bread crumbs at ShopRite in Paramus, I read the label. Then, I changed my mind. They contain high fructose corn syrup, sugar, honey, corn flour, milk, buttermilk, preservatives and other ingredients. 

Hunt's Tomatoes also were on sale at the Paramus ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east, but they contained added sugar, something you also find in nearly every bottled pasta sauce these days.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you want to avoid lots of sodium, added sugar or other undesirable ingredients in the food you buy, you'll have to pay attention to the small print.

Reading the ingredients label is a must.

Eggs, rice and other food labeled organic means they are free of pesticides and genetically modified ingredients (GMOs).

But you also find produce like the incomparable, hothouse grown Campari Tomatoes, sold in 2-pound packages at Costco Wholesale, labeled with the stamp of the Non-GMO Project.

You also have to worry about sugar, which is added to bread, pasta sauces, salsas and so many other products.

GOING ORGANIC: Two organic, free-range eggs served over organic brown rice --prepared in a rice cooker with organic chicken broth, diced tomatoes and black beans -- make a filling and delicious breakfast (hold the bread).

Baked or mashed sweet potatoes are another bread substitute, here with a plain egg-white omelet filled with a little grated cheese and Mexican-style salsa.

This egg-white omelet is stuffed with smoked wild sockeye salmon and salsa, both from Costco Wholesale in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center off of Route 46.

Whole King Whiting were $3.99 a pound at the H Mart in Little Ferry. With a central bone, whiting are among the easiest whole fish to eat. My wife seasoned serving pieces of the whole fish and pan-fried them in olive oil.

We boil sweet potatoes and whole garlic cloves, then drain and mash them with extra-virgin olive and seasonings, including red-pepper flakes, black pepper, cinnamon and garam masala.

Serving portions of fresh, wild-caught Icelandic Cod fillets ($7.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale) poach in under 10 minutes once you bring Roasted Poblano Salsa from Whole Foods Market to a boil and cover the pan, below. The salsa is free of added sugar. The garnish is fresh parsley and basil, and Aleppo red pepper.

I add a little sea salt to the fillets, and dilute the thick salsa with the juice of two fresh limes. A 16-ounce jar of salsa is enough for 2 pounds to 2.5 pounds of skinless and boneless cod (four generous servings with brown rice, whole wheat pasta or sweet potatoes).

This morning, a breakfast of leftover cod, organic brown rice and an egg-white omelet stuffed with reduced-fat cheese and salsa was a great start to the day.

Missing signs and products can make ShopRite in Paramus a hassle

At the ShopRite in Paramus this morning, I found a sign for an 18-ounce package of blueberries from Chile, but not for the smaller container below it.

The smaller container was marked 1 dry pint and weighed 12 ounces.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Missing price signs make shopping a hassle, but maybe food stores want you to take the item to the register and buy it no matter what it costs.

I stop at the ShopRite in Paramus, because it is on the way home from the gym. 

This morning, I went there to use a super coupon for three 24-bottle packs of Poland Spring Water ($9) as long as you spent $10 on other items, and used a store card.

An 18-ounce package of blueberries from Chile, a so-called Manager's Special, was marked down to $5.99 from $8.99.

Not only was that a dollar more than at Costco Wholesale, but I could see many of the blueberries were broken or bruised and unappetizing.

A smaller container had no price.

I looked and looked for a 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes I had purchased there regularly, but couldn't find any for the second week in a row. 

So, I bought three half-gallons of ShopRite Lactose Free Milk ($2.99 each), and a 1-pound package of Luigi Vitelli Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli ($1.25).

At the Paramus ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east, all varieties of ShopRite 100% Lactose Free Milk are grouped together.

But last week at the Rochelle Park ShopRite, 220 W. Passaic St., varieites of the store-brand of Lactose Free Milk were scattered. I was looking for 1% milk. However, this store had the 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes I couldn't find in Paramus.

Food warehouse

I've gotten some good buys on organic and non-organic extra-virgin olive oil for salads at the International Food Warehouse, 370 Essex St., Lodi.

But this afternoon, so many price signs were missing, I had to bring up to the register 3-liter and 2-liter containers of Iliada-brand Kalamata EVOO from Greece to find out they were priced too high.

I did buy a 5-ounce package of non-organic Spring Mix and another of Arugula for 99 cents each.

The Food Warehouse has a good selection of Middle Eastern pocket breads, and extra-virgin olive oils from Lebanon, but here again, price signs are missing or prices are higher than you'd find in Paterson.

And I saw a package of bread sticks made in Damascus, Syria.

More heart-healthy meals at home from ingredients that can't hurt you

Heart-healthy wild salmon two ways -- a grilled sockeye fillet accented with chopped fresh mint, front, and smoked sockeye in a frittata with pesto and fresh tomatoes. Both fresh and smoked wild salmon, as well as prepared pesto, are available at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In northern New Jersey, food shoppers enjoy an embarrassment of riches.

Fresh fish are abundant, such as Atlantic cod from Iceland and salmon from the U.S., both wild caught and available at Costco Wholesale for $7.99 a pound and $8.99 a pound, respectively.

Organic eggs, spring mix and whole-wheat pasta are three more components of a heart-healthy diet. 

When mashing sweet potatoes, always choose extra-virgin olive oil over butter, and don't stint on fresh California garlic.

With ingredients like these, assembling heart-healthy meals at home is a snap.

Fresh tomatoes from our garden and smoked wild salmon were layered on top of an egg mixture as it set over medium heat on the stove. The 10-inch frittata finishes under the broiler, and Costco's Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and chopped fresh mint are added once it is out of the oven.

Wild sockeye salmon can be prepared on a preheated grill pan with spray oil. For medium rare in the center, cook serving portions for 6 minutes.

A wedge of frittata and two small baked sweet potatoes with nothing on them make for a hearty breakfast.

Costco's smoked wild sockeye salmon is from Alaska. It is sold under the Kirkland Signature label and comes pre-sliced in two half-pound pouches for $15.99.

Finish the frittata under a broiler on a low setting for about 15 minutes or until it browns on top.

A 3-pound net bag of sweet potatoes from ShopRite in Paramus is $2.99, but bags often weigh more.

I boil sweet potato sections and peeled cloves of Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic for about 45 minutes or until a fork goes through the sections easily, then mash them with extra-virgin olive oil and numerous seasonings, including curry powder, cinnamon, red-pepper flakes and black pepper. A 3-pound bag of California garlic was $6.39 at Costco.

Garlicky mashed sweet potatoes with an egg-white omelet (stuffed with reduced-fat Swiss cheese, smoked wild salmon and Kirkland Signature Organic Salsa, plus a pesto finish).

Serving portions of skinless and boneless Atlantic cod fillet coated in a homemade Super Spice Mixture -- just about every spice and seasoning I have, mixed in a plastic container and kept in the refrigerator. I splashed the fish with fresh lime juice before breading. The side dish is fresh callaloo, a green that originates in the Caribbean. Depending on thickness, serving portions of fish are ready after 7 minutes to 12 minutes in a pre-heated, 375-degree oven.

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, the best salad in the world, is always under $5 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, lower than at any other store I know. Here, I added tomatoes from our garden and dressed the salad with organic Spanish extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Look for Earthbound Farm packages without condensation or your salad could rot before the use-by date on the label.

ShopRite cuts price of lactose-free milk to near what Costco charges

ShopRite in Paramus is offering Jersey Tomatoes that are "locally grown and shipped from nearby," which sounds redundant to me.

Editor's note: Food prices go up and down. Here, I discuss  a few I encountered on the down side.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm mystified by the price roller coaster at Costco Wholesale and other food stores.

On Thursday morning, on the way home from the gym, I stopped at the ShopRite in Paramus to pick up lactose-free milk, because I had run out of the half-gallons I've been buying at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Costco introduced Kirkland Signature 100% Lactose Free 2% Reduced Fat Milk early this year. 

Three half-gallons are $7.99 or about $2.66 each, compared to $3.49 a half-gallon at ShopRite.

But on Thursday, ShopRite's Lactose Free Milk was reduced to $2.99 for a half-gallon, and that isn't a sale price.

ShopRite does have more variety: Lactose Free Milk is available as 1% and 2% reduced fat, and as whole milk. 

This week, the Paramus ShopRite also had a sale on cantaloupes for 97 each with a store card.

Kirkland Signature 100% Lactose Free 2% Reduced Fat Milk at the Costco Wholesale in Wayne.

A 3-pound net bag of Jersey Sweet Potatoes were $2.99 each at the Paramus ShopRite, but on Tuesday I found two that weighed 3.5 pounds and nearly 4 pounds. Meanwhile, a 3-pound bag of Organic Sweet Potatoes was $6.99, a dollar more than before. I enjoyed a baked sweet potato with an egg-white omelet, kimchi and homemade coleslaw.

Great wine in Wayne

After running an errand in Clifton today, I headed for the Costco Wholesale in Wayne, the only one I know that sells wine under the Kirkland Signature label, the house brand.

A best buy is the 1.5-liter bottle of a delicious 2013 California Cabernet Sauvignon -- the equivalent of two bottles -- for only $7.99. I bought two.

Another good value is Kirkland Signature Prosecco, a sparkling wine from Italy, for $6.99.

And I also picked up a bottle of Kirkland Signature Champagne (Brut) from France ($19.99), as are the bottles of Veuve Clicquot displayed next to it at more than twice the price ($44.89).

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on Thursday, large, heavy seedless watermelons were $5.49 each, above and below.

While her husband went to get the car, a woman and her children guard what looks like a couple of dozen packages of Bounty Paper Towels from the Hackensack Costco.

In Wayne, Costco sells its French champagne, right, for less than half the price of Veuve Clicquot, below.

More than three dozen drivers lined up at the Costco Wholesale gas station in Wayne, where regular was selling for $2.09.9 this afternoon. But I've seen that price at non-Costco stations, and can't figure out why they would want to wait on a long gas line.

Eye opener: Organic eggs with parmigiano, pesto and fresh herbs

IN THE PAN: Cage-free organic eggs from Costco Wholesale with Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Basil Pesto, two other premium items from the warehouse store; chopped fresh herbs and a couple of pinches of Aleppo pepper. Make them butter free by using olive oil for frying.

ON THE PLATE: I ate them with garlicky mashed sweet potatoes prepared the night before. I boiled two cut-up, skin-on medium sweet potatoes with lots of peeled garlic cloves for about 50 minutes, and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil and several seasonings, including curry, cinnamon , black pepper and red-pepper flakes.

--VICTOR E. SASSON

Let them eat bread -- while you maintain your hard-won weight loss

A 10-inch frittata with smoked wild salmon, sweet potatoes and fresh spinach (folded into the egg mixture) starts out on top of the stove and finishes under the broiler. After you remove it from the oven, add Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale, where you can find most of the other ingredients.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Sweet potatoes, baked or mashed. Organic brown rice and organic quinoa prepared in an electric cooker. Organic whole-wheat pasta imported from Italy.

Let me count the substitutes I've enjoyed since embarking on a no-bread, no-pizza diet several years ago, and shedding 40 pounds.

I put back about 10 of those pounds after I gave up one of my two part-time jobs and became less active.

But the bread substitutes still work to help me maintain my weight loss, and they can be enjoyed at any meal where bread is served, even breakfast.

Of course, I don't drink soda, never touch dessert, eat reduced fat cheeses and try to avoid pasta sauces and other products made with added sugar, which is linked to the obesity epidemic.

A wedge of the frittata with baked and mashed sweet potatoes, the latter made with extra-virgin olive oil, cinnamon, curry powder and other seasonings.

Organic brown rice joins mashed sweet potatoes at another meal with a wedge of frittata.

Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Capellini, an Italian import available for $1.25 a pound at ShopRite in Paramus, complements an egg-white omelet stuffed with spinach.

Mateo's Gourmet Salsa and Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Spinach, both from Costco Wholesale, are perfect for stuffing a 10-inch omelet made with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites.

Mateo's Gourmet Salsa has no added sugar. A 32-ounce jar was $4.97 at Costco in Hackensack.

Some Kirkland Signature spices now have a new top, above, replacing a top that would sometimes come off, below, dumping ounces of black pepper, red-pepper flakes and other seasoning into the food you were preparing.

Here, I was seasoning the frittata egg mixture (16 ounces of whites and three whole organic eggs) after folding in the fresh spinach with a spoon.

Here, organic brown rice makes a nice foundation for a light dinner of salted fish prepared with sweet peppers, all accented with Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce, below.

Organic quinoa (prepared in an electric cooker with organic black beans, organic diced tomatoes and olive oil), with Roasted Chipotle Salsa I used tonight to poach wild-caught Icelandic Haddock Fillets, below.

The fresh haddock was $8.99 a pound at Costco. A 16-ounce jar of the salsa was $2.69 at Whole Foods Market in Paramus. I used most of the jar to poach 1.8 pounds of the fish in under 10 minutes. Tonight, I added the fresh juice of a lime and a little red wine to the salsa, and brought them to a boil before adding the fish and covering the pot.

Chinese New Year food delivery, taking comfort in sweet potatoes

On Sunday night, as snow fell, we belatedly celebrated the Year of the Sheep, which began Feb. 19, with delivery from Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, including a special Chinese New Year Dinner of fresh fish and snow pea leaves.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Another snowstorm put a damper on our Sunday night plans to celebrate the Chinese New Year at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack.

Luckily, we live within the restaurant's delivery zone, and I picked up the phone and placed our order.

We ordered one Year of the Sheep Special (hold the lamb), a four-course meal for $29.95, and supplemented that with three other dishes.

A second helping of Lotus Cafe fish and vegetables, without brown rice, included snow pea leaves, Chinese broccoli and crunchy snow peas and water chestnuts.

Our Chinese New Year Special, a fixed-priced four-course meal, included a Lobster Spring Roll and Chinese mustard.

Fish, vegetables, brown rice

For the Chinese New Year Special, I chose Hot and Sour Seafood Soup and Flounder with Snow Pea Leaves.

Other entree choices were filet mignon, duck either of two ways or jumbo shrimp.

For an appetizer, we got a Lobster Spring Roll and Grilled Chicken Skewers. Dessert was ice cream.

We also ordered Beef with Mustard Greens and Chili Pepper ($14.95), Prawns with crunchy Snow Peas ($16.95) and Chinese Broccoli with fresh garlic ($9.95).

All of the food was delicious, and I washed it down with the bottle of Yuengling Original Black & Tan beer I was planning to take to the Hackensack Avenue BYO.

And we have leftovers for breakfast and dinner today.

Lotus Cafe, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack, in the Home Depot Shopping Center; 201-488-7070. BYO.

I boiled three large sweet potatoes from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack (a 6.5-pound bag was $5.79), and fistfuls of peeled Christopher Ranch Monviso Garlic (a 3-pound bag was $6.39) to mash with extra-virgin olive oil and a multitude of seasoning, including sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, red-pepper flakes and curry powder.

Sweet potatoes are less starchy

Sweet potatoes, baked or mashed, are a cornerstone of the no-bread, no pizza, no meat diet I've been following for five years.

They're less starchy than yams or conventional potatoes, and widely available at ShopRite, Trader Joe's and Costco Wholesale.

The first two offer both conventional and organic sweet potatoes, and Trader Joe's has the best deals.

I often eat sweet potatoes for breakfast to supplement prepared food from Korean supermarkets and homemade dishes.

A baked sweet potato accented with Mexican-style salsa is a filling side dish at breakfast. The whole egg omelet is stuffed with reduced-fat Swiss cheese and grated Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese from Italy.

Another bread substitute is a steaming portion of organic whole-wheat linguine dressed in bottled Victoria Marinara with skinless-and-boneless sardines, part of a satisfying homemade dinner of pasta, salad and red wine.

Earthbound Organic Spring Mix and Sunset-brand Romana Tomatoes dressed in organic extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Comfort food from the Jamaican kitchen includes fried sweet plantains and boiled green banana as foils for the hot peppers in a breakfast of ackee (a bland fruit) and salted Alaskan pollock.

Plating leftovers from the Korean, Jamaican, Chinese and American kitchens for breakfast (clockwise from the top), stewed tofu from H Mart in Little Ferry, homemade ackee and salt fish; crunchy snow peas and water chestnuts from Lotus Cafe; and sweet potatoes and garlic mashed with extra-virgin olive oil. Other breakfasts have included Korean mung-bean pancakes and batter-dipped squid, both from H&Y Marketplace in Ridgefield.