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.

At Costco Wholesale, price of fresh wild salmon drops to under $10

Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack grilled on the stove top and served with salsa and chopped garden herbs.

The price for wild sockeye salmon at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack dropped to $9.99 a pound this week from $13.99 a pound on June 23.

Editor's note: We're back from a vacation in Canada and Vermont, and preparing the simple foods that say, Welcome home. We noticed that wild salmon, rotisserie chicken and other items at a Costco Wholesale in Montreal were priced higher than in our Hackensack Costco.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

This week, we returned from a vacation in Canada to find a dramatically lower price -- $9.99 a pound -- on fresh wild sockeye salmon at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Even at the old price of $13.99 a pound, this sockeye is cheaper than the wild salmon sold at the Costco Wholesale on Bridge Street in Montreal.

In fact, many of the items we saw in the Montreal Costco on June 29 were more expensive than the same or similar product at the Hackensack Costco.

At the moment, the U.S. dollar is worth about $1.20 against the Canadian dollar. 

In Montreal, we bought six Ataulfo Mangoes ($6.99 Canadian), 3 pounds of bananas ($1.99 Canadian) and Vita Coco Coconut Juice ($17.89 Canadian), all for snacks in our hotel room.

I also bought 20 Stanfield's Briefs in black, gray and white ($19.99 Canadian for a package of five).

Made in Canada, they are 100% cotton. And they're the most comfortable men's briefs I've ever found. 

Changing money

When we visited the Montreal Costco last year, we paid a 3% surcharge on everything we bought in the form of a foreign-currency transaction fee imposed by American Express.

This year, we bought Costco Cash Cards in U.S. dollars online to pay for our purchases, and it looks like we got a discount of about 20% on all of our purchases at the Montreal Costco, including the photo service.

The U.S. dollar was worth about $1.20 Canadian during our visit.

I also brought a Capitol One Visa Card with no foreign-currency transaction fee to charge nearly everything else.

At the Hyatt Regency Montreal, where we stayed, the front desk gave me $46 Canadian in exchange for $40 U.S. -- less than the $48 I expected.

At an ATM machine, I withdrew $40 Canadian and my New Jersey bank debited my account $33.50 U.S. 

I used the machine after walking into the bank, where a teller told me I would have to pay a one-time fee of $5 Canadian to change money.

This Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese from Italy at a Costco Wholesale in Montreal is around $10.90 Canadian a pound, which is about what I pay for the same cheese in Hackensack, but the Ambrosi brand is aged longer, 30 months v. 24 months.

At $22.99 Canadian for 2.2 pounds, the Castelli brand of Parmigiano Reggiano costs about $10.45 Canadian a pound, and also is aged for 30 months.

In Montreal, Kirkland Signature Egg Whites come in four 500-gram cartons for $8.49 Canadian, compared to the six 454-gram or 16-ounce containers we bought in Hackensack for $9.99, up from $7.99 a year ago.

Costco's popular but low-quality Rotisserie Chicken is $7.99 Canadian in Montreal, compared to $4.99 in Hackensack.

Ingredients include salt, rice starch, sugar, tetrapotassium pyrophosphate and sodium triphosphate. The birds also are raised on antibiotics that are harmful to humans.

In Montreal, 2-pound packages of Jersey Fresh Blueberries were a good buy at $5.19 Canadian.

At $15.90 Canadian a pound, this fresh wild sockeye salmon cost more than the Alaskan fish offered in Hackensack, where the fillets cost $14.99 a pound and $13.99 a pound in June. This week, sockeye salmon dropped to $9.99 a pound in New Jersey.

Artificially colored farmed salmon in Montreal, where the price is given for a kilo or 2.2 pounds.

At the end of June, regular gas at the Costco in Montreal was about $4.67 Canadian a gallon ($1.22.9 per liter). Premium was over $5 a gallon.

One item I would love to see in Hackensack is this Vegepate, made from sunflower seeds, vegetables, soy sauce, spices and other ingredients. I tried a free sample and thought it contained meat.

You get three 227-gram pates for $6.99 Canadian.

Onions, carrots and potatoes are the vegetables used.

After our return to New Jersey on Tuesday afternoon, the first dish I prepared at home was a pound of organic whole-wheat capellini in bottled marinara sauce with added anchovies, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings. At the table, I added grated Pecorino Romano Cheese and chopped herbs from the garden, including mint and parsley.

For breakfast the next morning, I ate two Costco organic brown eggs with leftover capellini, a great bread substitute.

For breakfast today, I had trouble completely folding this Egg Whites omelet stuffed with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, za'atar thyme mixture and salsa.

Tonight, leftover fresh wild sockeye salmon right out of the refrigerator crowned a dinner salad.

Why I love leftovers

Image via Wikipedia

A reliable source for Aleppo pepper is Fattal's Bakery in Paterson.

You're probably tired of reading about the fresh, wild sockeye salmon I've been buying at Costco in Hackensack, but I'm far from tired of eating this fatty fish for dinner, breakfast and whenever.


Most of time, I cut a fillet into six or seven portions, add fresh lemon juice, Aleppo red pepper and chopped herbs from the garden, and bake it for 10 minutes to 15 minutes at 375 degrees, depending on whether I want it rare or cooked through (for my wife and son).


When I remove the clear plastic wrapping over the foam tray, the raw fish is glistening with oil. Costco says wild salmon arrives in stores only three days after processing in the northwestern United States. It's a low $7.99 a pound.


I cooked the salmon Monday night, eating two portions for dinner with blanched and sauteed Shanghai bok choy, and some stewed tofu in a red-pepper sauce.


This morning, I plated a leftover portion of fish, a chunk of stewed Alaska pollock, a piece of tofu and more baby bok choy with garlic, left over from the 2 pounds I bought at H Mart for 78 cents a pound.

Image via Wikipedia

Bok choy growing in a garden.

I warmed everything in the microwave for about 1 minute while I fried two eggs in extra-virgin olive oil, sunny side up. 


To the eggs, I added a little salt, a little Aleppo pepper and leftover chopped basil, oregano and rosemary, and when they were ready, I slid them from the pan on top of the bok choy.


A tasty, filling, fork-and-knife breakfast.


Rx for good eating


I took advantage of a doctor's appointment in Englewood to pick up a large jar of Arirang cabbage kimchi at the factory, 191 W. Englewood Ave.


My next stop was Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., for mixed Italian olives at $3.99 a pound, compared to $6.99 a pound and $7.99 a pound elsewhere. 


But the store was out of them, so I bought a container of Cerignola black olives, which were only $3.99 for 18 ounces.

Informal recipes for fava beans, wild salmon

Image via Wikipedia

Ful mudammas is an Egyptian breakfast of seasoned fava beans topped with a mashed, hard-boiled egg. 

Food writer Clifford A. Wright says: "'The rich man's breakfast, the shopkeeper's lunch, the poor man's supper.' This Arabic saying captures what fūl mudammas is." Ful is pronounced "fool," but my variation on this breakfast will make you feel anything but foolish.

I start with frozen fava beans from Portugal that are sold at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood. 

The beans are actually inside the skin shown in the photo above. I boiled the whole thing for five to seven minutes or until tender (I eat skin and beans). Meanwhile, I chopped up half of a small to medium onion and fresh garlic to taste, and sauteed them in extra-virgin olive oil until they are translucent.

In goes the whole beans, with seasonings: salt, cumin, allspice and Aleppo red pepper. Then, after the beans, onions and garlic are combined, I pour in egg whites in equal proportion, add a little more salt and scramble. You can stuff the eggs and beans into warm pocket bread and add hummus or tahini sauce.

Thanks to Kano, author of Syrian Foodie in London, for inspiration. He is  listed in my Blog Roll.

Wild-salmon festival at home

I picked up a fillet of fresh, wild sockeye salmon at Costco in Hackensack on Monday, and prepared it Tuesday night, ensuring four or five meals that revolve around this wonderful fish ($8.99 a pound).

I cut the 1.55-pound fillet into six pieces, from about two ounces to six ounces each. I placed them in a pan I lined with aluminum foil (spray cooking oil on the foil so the skin won't stick.)

I splashed fresh lemon juice over the pieces, salted them a bit, then rubbed them with Aleppo red pepper and topped them with chopped herbs from the garden. I baked the fish in a 350-degree oven, and watched it carefully until it was medium rare (around 12 minutes for the bigger pieces, less for others.)

I ate the fish with organic spinach that I had blanched quickly, drained and returned to the same pan with olive oil, salt and garlic powder, and a warm pocket bread.

This morning, I made a beautiful wild-salmon sandwich with tomato slices sprinkled with za'atar thyme mixture, romaine lettuce, Dijon mustard and hummus. I could have added a slice of low-fat Swiss cheese. There's no need to heat up the fish. Kimchi makes a great side dish.

Leftovers will be eaten over salads or in other sandwiches.

Alaskan wild salmon for breakfast and dinner

Here it is October, and I am still enjoying fresh wild salmon from Costco. The price is the same as the Northwest sockeye fillets I started buying in June ($8.99 a pound), but now this Alaskan fish is coho, a variety with less of those beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids.

I'm wild over this salmon because of its deep color, great taste and how you get a nutritious meal after only 10 to 15 minutes in the oven, seasoned with salt, Aleppo pepper (coarse, red, with a little heat) and fresh chopped herbs. I like my fillet on the rare side.

I cut my $11 fillet into six portions. For dinner the first night, we baked red potatoes in the microwave, heated up organic mixed vegetables and made a salad of organic greens. The remaining three fillets went into the fridge, ready for my mid-morning sandwich on toasted whole-grain bread with pesto, organic greens, sliced tomato with the herb mixture called za'atar, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.