Eating in or out, Feast of the Seven Fishes is always the right choice

Fresh-water carp cooling their tails on the fish counter at the H Mart in Fort Lee, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I'm lucky to eat an Italian-style Feast of the Seven Fishes maybe once a year.

But since I gave up meat and poultry more than five years ago, I usually enjoy a variety of fresh, heart-healthy seafood every week -- fresh, dried or from cans.

If you're concerned about mercury, concentrate on such small fish as sardines and anchovies, which are easy to incorporate into pasta sauce, and avoid large predators, including Chilean sea bass and giant bluefin tuna.

A fish salad with canned light skipjack tuna, pink salmon, sardines and chickpeas -- dressed with fresh lime juice, Dijon mustard, cumin and other spices -- makes a great snack or sandwich.

Most of the ingredients can be found at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

Whiting and Alaskan pollack, two cousins of cod, are widely available fresh or prepared at Korean supermarkets.

Pollack also is used in fish sticks and other items at Costco Wholesale.

If you prefer fresh fish, the Teterboro Costco usually offers fillets of cod, haddock and flounder, all wild; as well as wild whole red snapper or farmed branzino from Greece.

Costco also carries antibiotic-free Atlantic salmon fillets.

You can find wild-caught Gulf Shrimp at Whole Foods Market in Paramus ($14.99 a pound when on sale), and sometimes at H Mart.

Unlike Fairway Market in Paramus, the fish-counter workers at Whole Foods will gladly devein large wild shrimp.

A refrigerated case displays sashimi, fish eggs and other raw items opposite the main fish counter at the Korean supermarket in the Linwood Plaza shopping center on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee.

A tray of sliced raw salmon and other fish was $21.99.

You can't beat two eggs over easy, broiled whiting and terrific home fries at the Golden Grill, 1379 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck (a bargain at $7 with toast), and don't forget to accent your breakfast with Cholula Hot Sauce from Mexico, below.

Whole fresh whiting from the Fort Lee H Mart ($4.99 a pound), seasoned and pan-fried at home, go well with organic quinoa, organic diced tomatoes and garlic cloves; and sauteed cabbage and sweet peppers.

A center spine makes whole whiting and bigger whole King Whiting easy to eat.

A large Futomaki Roll from Maguro Sushi House, 430 Rochelle Ave., Rochelle Park, includes crab, egg, kanpyo (dried shavings of calabash, a gourd), spinach, cucumber and caviar. Also available in the cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, 350 Engle St. (about $8.60).

Slices of Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon, available year-round at Costco Wholesale, can turn a salad into dinner. The smoked salmon also is terrific in an omelet or as a snack when rolled with a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese and dipped in Dijon mustard.

Fillet of cod with roasted peppers was the centerpiece of a restaurant-quality takeout dinner from Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood, below. I plated the fish with a wedge of vegetable frittata and broccoli, leaving chicken dumplings and farfalle a la vodka for another family member.

A complete Meal To Go is $7.99 or $5.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left.

A fresh fava bean salad from another Meal To Go, and pitted olives from Jerry's in Englewood. A 20-ounce container of olives was only $3.99.

Salted codfish or pollack is a staple at our house, and is especially good added to pasta sauce. Here, salted cod, boiled three times and rinsed to cut the sodium content, is paired with fresh ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica, and plated with leftovers. The dish, Ackee and Saltfish, is prepared with sweet and hot peppers, and usually served with boiled green bananas. 

At IHOP in Teaneck, hold the pancakes, cheese, butter and more

A 55+ Omelet at IHOP in Teaneck with added tomatoes and fresh spinach (79 cents each), and a side of hash browns, top.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss sticking to my diet at IHOP; simple cooking at home; and purchases at H Mart, Whole Foods Market, Starbucks, ShopRite and Costco Wholesale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When a group of friends wanted to stop for lunch at IHOP on Cedar Lane in Teaneck last week, I went along.

But I wasn't about to break my diet.

I ordered a 55+ Omelet ($5.49), which usually is made with cheese and comes with pancakes, toast and hash-brown potatoes on the side.

Hold the cheese, pancakes and toast, I told the waitress, who looked like she was 85 and would understand my diet restrictions, and add tomatoes and fresh spinach (79 cents each).

I also asked her if the kitchen could make my omelet with oil instead of butter. 

That's pretty much the way I eat at home to maintain my weight loss from a no-bread, no-pizza, no-meat diet, and avoid artery clogging butter and cream.

I liked the IHOP omelet, which had as much fresh spinach in it as Greek diner omelets I've had in Paramus and River Edge at nearly twice the price.

IHOP calls the omelet 55+ or Senior, but I didn't find any senior discount on my receipt. 

IHOP, 610 Cedar Lane, Teaneck; 201-836-6500. Open every day at 7 a.m. 

Organic whole wheat pasta corkscrews from Whole Foods Market in bottled Paesana Organic Tomato & Basil sauce with added organic diced tomatoes, chopped fresh garlic and  black olives.

Keeping it simple at home

I don't have the inclination, time or skill to make my own red sauce for pasta, and rely on terrific bottled sauces without added sugar.

I do add red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, dried Italian herbs, red-pepper flakes and a can of drained and rinsed anchovies to give bottled sauce a special, robust flavor without any hint of fish.

You can also stretch a 25-ounce bottle of sauce with Costco Wholesale's Organic Diced Tomatoes, sold under the Kirkland Signature house label.

I found 25-ounce bottles of Premium Organic Paesana Tomato & Basil sauce at Costco Wholesale, which also sells Kirkland Signature Marinara and 40-ounce jars of Victoria Marinara.

Grated Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese from Costco, adds an Italian accent to pasta, salads, eggs and soup.

Grated Pecorino Romano over two organic brown eggs from Costco. I plated them for breakfast with mashed and baked sweet potatoes and leftover okra.

Organic eggs with Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco and za'atar thyme mixture from Fattal's Bakery in Paterson.

The 6.8-ounce Protein Bistro Box from Starbucks Coffee in Hackensack can stand in for a full breakfast or lunch ($4.95). I brought this one home last week as a reward for regularly using a Starbucks Card. The box contains a cage-free hard-boiled egg, white Cheddar cheese, multigrain Muesli bread, honey peanut butter spread and fruit.

Discount Mondays at Starbucks

On Monday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., I went to Starbucks at 360 Essex St. in Hackensack to take advantage of a 30% discount for members of My Starbucks Rewards.

I purchased two 1-pound bags of coffee beans, normally $12.95 and $11.95, for a total of $17.42.

I asked for a Turkish grind of the Willow and Veranda Blonde Roasts.

While I was there, I drank a Venti Jade Citrus Mint green tea for $1.85, plus tax, discounted from $2.65. 

On March 16 at Starbucks, you can get two teas for the price of one, and on March 23, you'll receive a free pastry with a drink purchase.

Part of the parking lot at the H Mart in Little Ferry.

Supermarket purchases

On Sunday, I drove through the flooded, potholed parking lot at H Mart in Little Ferry for a box of 16 Ataulfo Mangoes from Mexico, on sale for $9.99 with a store card (a discount of $5).

On Monday morning, I stopped at the ShopRite in Paramus for a 1-pound package of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli for $1.25, and a 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes that weighed closer to 4 pounds ($2.99).

Also on Monday, my wife bought fresh whole red snapper at the H Mart in Englewood for $6.99 a pound, and seasoned and pan fried them at home, serving them with fresh okra for dinner.

Today, at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, I picked up two 1-pound boxes of 365 Everyday Value Organic Whole Wheat Shells for $1.49 each, and gizzards from naturally raised chickens ($3.99 a pound).

Costco Wholesale celebrates wild salmon from Alaska's Copper River

Fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska with diced organic tomatoes, red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, fresh oregano and fresh mint. The side dish, top, is organic baby spinach sauteed with chopped garlic, chicken stock and sake.

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on Monday, comparing the natural color of wild Copper River sockeye salmon, bottom, and artificially colored farmed Atlantic salmon. The wild fish also tastes more robust.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The June 2014 edition of the Costco Connection magazine tries to answer salmon lovers' questions about why sockeye from the Copper River in Alaska are held in such high regard.

The Copper River isn't the longest salmon river in the world, but it probably has the best marketing.

"The Copper River is a very fast-moving glacial river, so the salmon have to store up a lot of oil content to get up the river," said Scott Blake, CEO of Copper River Seafoods (Pages 48-9).

"If you look at other river systems, they're very short in comparison, so salmon that go into those rivers don't produce [as much] oil," Blake added.

Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale on an egg-white omelet with Aleppo pepper and Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto, also from Costco. 

One of year's first runs

The seafood executive says the Copper River has other advantages:

"It has one of the first commercially harvested salmon runs of the year in Alaska, so it's available before other wild salmon hit the market; and Copper River's location near a port and proximity to Seattle make fast transportation plausible," Blake says.

"Today, Copper River salmon fetch some of the market's highest prices, making it a cornerstone of the Alaskan economy," according to the Costco members' lifestyle magazine.

Copper River salmon gained its ascendancy in the late 1980s, when Jon Rowley, a Seattle-based seafood and marketing consultant, introduced the fish and their fishers to high-end restaurant owners and chefs, the magazine notes.

In 2013, commercial fishers pulled 1.8 million coho, sockeye and king salmon from the Copper River, which is nearly 300 miles long, according to Alaska fish and game officials.

Salmon prices at Costco

Now, fresh Copper River sockeye fillets are selling at the Hackensack warehouse store for $14.99 a pound, twice the price of artificially colored farmed Atlantic salmon.

But that's only $1 a pound more than they were selling in June 2012.

On Monday, we picked up a package with two sockeye salmon fillets weighing a total of 2.10 pounds that yielded about eight serving pieces, enough for four with leftovers.

I roasted the relatively thin serving pieces for 12 minutes in a 375-degree oven, and they were cooked medium.

I topped them with a reduced mixture of organic diced tomatoes, garlic, red wine, lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil and fresh oregano, then added chopped fresh mint.

A breakfast of Copper River sockeye salmon with a wedge of cheese-and-garlic frittata, and mashed sweet potatoes. For dinner tonight, half of a piece of leftover salmon was delicious eaten cold over an organic spring mix salad.

Three recipes

The Costco magazine article includes three recipes, Ceviche-Inspired Wild Alaskan Salmon, Lomi Lomi Salmon and Southeast Grilled Salmon.

Costco salmon slicers go wild, no easy Target deals

Torn pieces of Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale with two organic eggs, also from Costco.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

You should have heard me cursing out loud the other day when I tried to fry two eggs sunny side up and add a few slices of Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale.

In the years I have been buying this wonderful product, the salmon came sliced beautifully, and I could easily separate the pieces with a fork or my fingers.

Once in a while, the smoked salmon was sliced, but placed wrong side down on the tray inside the sealed pouch.

But this time, the salmon appeared to have been packaged unsliced, and there was a tough, dark-colored section that made it even harder to use only part of the half-pound fillet in my egg dish.

What the smoked salmon looks like when it is sliced properly.

Big price hike

The smoked salmon comes in two, linked half-pound pouches for $18.89, a significant price hike, though still cheaper than 1 pound of any other smoked wild salmon I've seen elsewhere.

In March 2013, the price was $15.59.

On Friday, my wife picked up another package of smoked wild salmon at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

She also bought 10 pounds of Earthbound Farm Organic Carrots for $8.99, four half-gallons of Tropicana Premium Orange Juice for $11.59, three half-gallons of Kirkland Signature Organic 1% Milk for $9.69 and three pounds of bananas for $1.39.

The last of the smoked wild salmon I had to tear to separate in a breakfast omelet today. Below, a new package my wife picked up Friday at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Hard-to-get Target deal

I returned to Target in Hackensack on Friday to take advantage of promotions on frozen pizzas and Mexican-style green salsa.

Frozen pizzas from Archer Farms, a store brand, were on sale for $4.49 each, and a second pizza was free.

I bought two, Fennel Sausage & Roasted Peppers and Mediterranean Arugula & Tomato, both with "wood-fired crusts."

At the register, the promotion was automatic, but a second promotion, for 16-ounce jars of Archer Farms Roasted Salsa Verde, caused a big problem, because the data in the store's computer and the shelf sign didn't match.

The sign said, Buy three and get one free, but the computer had another promotion, requiring the purchase of tortillas.

I had to find a supervisor, walk to the grocery section in the back of the store and show her the sign before I got the three jars of salsa for the price of two, $6.04.

The salsa is perfect for poaching fish or adding to egg dishes, as well as eating with chips.

I also used my Target credit card for an additional 5% discount on the pizzas and salsa (52 cents), and got 5 cents back for a reusable bag.

On an earlier visit, a half-gallon of Market Pantry Lactose Free Milk rang up for $3.39, but I pointed out the shelf sign said $3.14, and the price was immediately adjusted.

Still, a customer should not have to jump through hoops to get Target promotions.

Plating favorites from Costco and Jerry's Gourmet

A no-mayo salad uses canned Genova-brand Yellowfin Tuna from Costco Wholesale. Two other Costco items, Campari Tomatoes and Earthbound Farm Orgnaic Spring Mix, and Italian olives from Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood complete the plate.

Chopped sweet peppers, carrot and onion, and a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, in bottled Kirkland Signature Marinara from Costco add up to a tasty dressing for imported organic whole-wheat spaghetti ($1.39 a pound at Whole Foods Market in Paramus).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Canned-fish salad makes a great sandwich or cold plate for breakfast or lunch.

I use Genova-brand Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil, Bear & Wolf Pink Salmon and Season-brand Skinless & Boneless Sardines, all from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

For a crunchy salad, I mix the fish and their liquid with lots of chopped sweet peppers, onion and celery, and dress everything with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice and ground cumin to taste.

Six cans of the solid light tuna were $11.89, six cans of the wild Alaskan salmon were $12.99, and five 3.75-ounce cans of the Moroccan sardines were $6.19 after an instant $2.25 coupon.

The Moroccan sardines (with skin and bones) I buy at Fattal's in Paterson are only 99 cents, and the can is larger, but the Season sardines have less sodium and the container is BPA free.

Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood has an unusually large selection of cheese, with many free samples (410 S. Dean St., 201-871-7108). If you think the streets are choked with traffic, the aisles at Jerry's often are jammed with people grazing on free cheese, bread, olive-oil and other samples, as they were at mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

A complete dinner from Jerry's: Chicken alla Milanese, Macaroni and Cheese, Baked Artichoke, Zucchini Flower, and Shrimp and Broccoli Dumplings ($7.99 or $5.99 after 4 p.m.). Plate the food before reheating in the microwave, and finish the meal with a salad.

Grazing at Jerry's

At Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood, you'll find containers of mixed Italian olives with whole garlic cloves for a low $3.99 a pound.

Jerry's Meals To Go are complete, restaurant-quality dinners for $7.99 or $5.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left.

At mid-afternoon on Tuesday, I picked up three dinners: Chicken alla Milanese, Monkfish Ossobucco and Fillet of Sole Francese, but the last one contained chicken, not fish.

That's the first time I've encountered a mislabeling in the years I've been buying Jerry's Meals To Go.

I also picked up a 2.2-pound bag of Lavazza Crema e Aroma Coffee Beans from Italy for $19.99, and a 1-pound bag of Garofalo Whole Wheat Pappardelle for $2.59.

A 20-ounce jar of Bella Rosa aged Asiago, a shredded cow's milk cheese, was only $6.99.

Add to egg whites for a simple omelet or elaborate frittata, as well as to pasta, soup or salads.

Something new at Jerry's are larger, more readable receipts that are a welcome change to shoppers who have spent years squinting at narrow strips of paper with hard-to-read print.

Imported egg noodles, Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and pre-washed organic baby spinach -- all from Costco -- made a terrific one-dish dinner tonight.

Pesto and spinach

In my cupboard this afternoon, I found 4 ounces of dried egg tagliatelle, which are handmade noodles imported from Italy by Costco.
They cook up al dente in just four minutes, and I added a big handful of organic baby spinach to the boiling water in the last minute of cooking.

I drained the pasta and spinach, returned them to the pot, now off of the heat, and added about three tablespoons of prepared pesto.

Far from authentic, but delicious just the same, especially when washed down with a glass of red wine.

A pound of the organic baby spinach was $4.49 last week at my Hackensack Costco, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix was $4.79 and 5 pounds of sweet potatoes were $5.99.

A 70-ounce jar of Half Sour Pickles were $5.89, and two 96-ounce bottles of Kirkland Signature Organic Lemonade (18% juice) were $5.99.

Crisp Pink Lady Apples from Washington State were $9.99 for 5.5 pounds, and Made in Nature Organic Calimyrna Figs -- they are non-GMO, sun dried and unsulphured -- were $10.99 for a 40-ounce bag.

These Turkish figs are soft and sweet, quite a contrast to the jawbreakers I've bought in supermarkets, and they can be stuffed easily with a cinnamon-dusted roasted almond or two for a great snack or paired with cheese for dessert.

A 3-pound bag of sodium-free almonds are $14.99 at Costco, which also sells Ground Saigon Cinnamon from Vietnam.

I roast the almonds in the oven at 275 degrees for 1 hour and 2o minutes, let them cool and liberally shake the cinnamon container over them.

An H Mart in need of renovation makes small changes

Wild-caught sardines at H Mart in Little Ferry were from the United States. At Whole Foods Market in Paramus, Portuguese sardines go for $9.99 a pound.

On Sunday, H Mart slashed the price of bok choy, and sold seven bunches of scallions for only $1.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss the H Mart in Little Ferry, and a frittata made almost wholly from ingredients purchased at Costco Wholesale, including smoked wild Alaskan sockeye salmon.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The H Mart in Little Ferry is part of a Korean supermarket chain with four other newer or brighter stores in Bergen County.

Fresh fish, a wide selection of Asian greens and low prices are among the lures.

The supermarket occupies a huge building near the Little Ferry Circle that is half-empty, and the parking lot is prone to flooding.

H Mart has opened stores in Fort Lee, and renovated its aging supermarket in Englewood, but the Little Ferry store only recently began making changes.

The store has a more open look after many high shelves were removed, and the sushi department was eliminated.

I once looked into the dingy lunchroom, but never actually sat down and ordered anything, and I'm not sure if it is even operating now.

On Sunday, I went there to buy fresh fish, and was torn between small, wild-caught whiting at $3.99 a pound and plump porgies at only $2.99 a pound.

We seasoned and breaded whole whiting from H Mart in Little Ferry.

Delicious fried

I bought eight whiting, which we fried. 

Whiting have a minimum of bones and sweet, flaky flesh that invite you to eat them with your hands -- think of them as chicken of the sea. 

I also picked up 2 pounds of Mini Sweet Peppers from Mexico for $1.99, and a 5-pound box of Israeli clementines for $7.99 ($2 off), more than I usually like to pay.

I weighed the fruit and cardboard box, and they totaled nearly 6.5 pounds. At home, we found them to be among the sweetest we've had.

It looks like clementines are destined to become a year-round fruit.

My other purchases were seven bunches of scallions for $1, and two packages of prepared Korean food, Stewed Tofu ($3.99) and Stewed Alaskan Pollock ($6.99). 

This H Mart also has low prices on California-grown rice, usually $8.99 for a 15-pound bag, and on Sunday, an employee made an announcement that the drought would be causing a price spike.

H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry; 201-814-0400. 

Web site: www.hmart.com

Easy Costco frittata

The first step to a delicious frittata with smoked wild salmon is an egg mixture of whole eggs and egg whites; a little low-fat milk, shredded cheese and chopped garlic, all from Costco Wholesale. Pour the mixture into a hot, well-oiled 10-inch non-stick pan.

As the bottom sets over medium-high heat, add slices of smoked wild salmon and reduced fat Swiss cheese, both from Costco. With plenty of sodium in the fish and cheese, there is no need to add salt.

Before finishing the frittata under the broiler, I added a couple of pinches of Aleppo pepper and after I removed it from the oven, spooned on a little Genova Pesto from Trader Joe's, which isn't the equal of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco.

A wedge of smoked wild-salmon frittata with Stewed Tofu and Stewed Pollock from H Mart in Little Ferry.

A baked sweet potato and frittata make a great breakfast.

A tablespoon of Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto in a bowl of Harry's Organic Vegetable Minestrone, a hearty soup from Costco.

Pesto is a terrific garnish for a baked sweet potato.

Sweet ShopRite deal goes sour once again

The sign on sweet potatoes at the ShopRite in Paramus clearly states you get a 20-cents-per-pound discount, if you buy more than 5 pounds, but the store's computer continues to ignore that at checkout, requiring an "override" from a supervisor, who then goes to the produce section, eyeballs the sign ("Buy Big and Save!) and gets a code to punch into the register.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss how the ShopRite in Paramus requires shoppers to jump through hoops for a discount, compare prices at ShopRite and other stores, offer suggestions for meals made with seafood from Costco Wholesale, and report on good buys at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

How long does it take to fix the computerized checkout gizmo at the ShopRite in Paramus to reflect a volume discount on 5 pounds of sweet potatoes?

In the past few weeks, I've stopped there on the way home from the gym to buy sweet potatoes for baking and mashing, and each time, I saw a sign offering a discount of 20 cents a pound for more than 5 pounds.

The first time, I got the discount automatically at checkout, but the last two times, including on Wednesday, I didn't, and the sweet potatoes rang up at the full price.

That meant a delay of 10 minutes to 15 minutes while the problem was cleared up.

On Wednesday, after all the back and forth, I was charged 69 cents a pound for 4 pounds and given the 5th pound free. The regular price was 89 cents a pound.

The Paramus ShopRrite sells peeled garlic from China for $3.39 a pound, compared to the $2 a pound I pay at Costco Wholesale for peeled heirloom garlic from the Christopher Ranch in California.

Comparing prices

In the produce section of the Paramus ShopRite, I noticed peeled garlic from China for $3.39 a pound, compared to $5.99 for a 3-pound bag of peeled California garlic at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

ShopRite had a bag of celery stalks for $1.49, compared to 99 cents at Hackensack Market, 120 Passaic St. 

Other sale items at Hackensack Market on Tuesday included 12-ounce bottles of Goya Malta at 5 for $3.

A 1-liter bottle of Valentina Salsa Picante (Black Label), a terrific Mexican hot sauce that doesn't obliterate the flavors of the food you're eating, was $1.99. 

At ShopRite, a 1-pound package of Olivia Organic's Spring Mix was $7.99, a dollar more than a 1-pound package of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix or Organic Half & Half (spring mix and baby spinach).

At Costco, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix is $4.99 or less.  

Salted cod fish fillets from Canada is available at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack in 2-pound bags for $11.99. Here, the wild-caught fish is prepared with okra, sweet peppers, onions and garlic, and served with a leftover fish from a Korean takeout order, rear.

Canned wild-caught pink salmon in water and smoked wild sockeye salmon also are sold at Costco. A no-mayo pink salmon salad, left, includes chopped celery, sweet pepper and red onion; and Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice, ground cumin and avocado oil for moisture. The smoked salmon is sliced and ready to add to salads, right.

Salted cod fish with cabbage and sweet peppers served with baby spinach sauteed in avocado oil and chopped California garlic.

Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon goes into an egg-white omelet served with leftover shrimp, organic brown rice and organic quinoa. The price of a 1-pound package of smoked wild salmon jumped more than $3 recently, to $18.89, but you'll pay about $30 a pound at other stores. 

Deals at Jerry's

I ran out of Ponti Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, but found half-liter bottles for $1.99 each on Wednesday at Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

I was served this balsamic vinegar at restaurants in and near Milan during a trip to Italy in 2010, and have been buying it ever since. 

It contains no added color, unlike so many other brands I see.

I also found two Jerry's Meals To Go, complete restaurant-quality dinners reduced to $5.99 from $7.99 after 4 p.m.

The dinners contained Chicken Siciliano, toasted orzo salad, string beans and artichoke salad -- ready to be plated and reheated in the microwave.

After I grabbed the last two Meals To Go in a refrigerated case, I walked around sampling Jerry's cheeses, and came across an antipasto platter with two cheeses, two styles of salami, sweet peppers and mixed olives with sun-dried tomatoes.

The 2.1-pound Messana-brand Party Platter was $6.99 or less than half price.

The Asiago and Fontina cheeses are made with part skimmed milk, meaning they are reduced fat.

Part of the antipasto platter I picked up at Jerry's for $6.99.