Fresh sockeye salmon with spinach, tomatoes, peaches and olives

Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon from the Copper River in Alaska has been in short supply at Costco Wholesale in the Teterboro Landing shopping center, but on Wednesday, my wife found a fillet for $16.99 a pound -- or $12 to $18 a pound less than at other stores.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Ten minutes of preparation and 15 minutes in a preheated oven yield a delicious wild-salmon dinner for four with leftovers.

After striking out on three previous visits to Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, my wife found a 1.83-pound fillet of fresh wild sockeye salmon from the Copper River in Alaska ($16.99 a pound).

She also brought home 1 pound of fresh organic spinach ($3.99), and a 5-pound bag of limes ($4.99), both of which I needed to prepare the salmon.

I assembled serving portions of fish and the other ingredients in a pan, and placed it in a preheated 400-degree oven.

If you like your wild salmon on the rare side, pull out the pan in 10 minutes, but the oily fish will cook through in 15 minutes and remain moist.

I tried cooking the salmon portions skin-side up, but had to turn them over to get them to cook through, so I'd recommend leaving the skin side down from the outset.

The dish offers the interplay of sweet ripe peaches with savory pitted olives accenting wild sockeye salmon, one of the world's greatest fish for eating.

I lined a large pan with aluminum foil, added about a half-pound of fresh spinach, extra-virgin olive oil, seven serving portions of salmon seasoned with a little sea salt, sliced beefsteak tomatoes, ripe peach sections, pitted black and green olives, fresh orange and lime juices, and organic no-salt seasoning. Many of the ingredients are available at Costco.

The Costco Wholesale label.

The deep red color of fresh wild sockeye salmon has undeniable eye appeal, especially when compared to pale, artificially colored farmed salmon, and no farmed fish can match the taste.

On Wednesday night, I enjoyed my fresh wild sockeye salmon with a glass of red wine, then had a big salad, but this is a fish I love at any meal. Today, I ate salmon for breakfast, smothered in tomatoes, with a baked sweet potato.

Enjoying the many winners from Costco Wholesale

A recent addition to the fresh-fish case at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, wild-caught mahi-mahi fillets from Costa Rica take a swim in Mexican green salsa with fresh lime juice, pinches of Aleppo pepper and fresh basil leaves.

Three more winners from Costco -- Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy and Campari Tomatoes -- team up to make a beautiful salad. Two other ingredients are sliced fuyu and cucumber, and everything is dressed in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Lollo Rosa, Tango and Mizuna.

They roll off your tongue and dazzle your taste buds when they meet in a salad made with Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

The prewashed spring mix is among the many winners from Costco Wholesale that have become staples of our diet at home.

I have an Earthbound Farm salad after just about every home-cooked meal, often adding cheese, fruit and cucumbers.

Sliced fuyu, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and organic spring mix.

Reduced-fat cheese

Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy, in wedges or shredded; Ground Saigon Cinnamon, Himalayan Pink Salt in its own grinder, Organic No-Salt Seasoning, Basil Pesto, Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon -- the list of winners is long.

Aged cheese cut from the wedge is ideal to eat with fruit and cinnamon-dusted almonds or to add to fried organic eggs, using a vegetable peeler.

The rind can be diced and added to pasta sauce, lending it a distinctive flavor.

The shredded cheese gives body and flavor to Kirkland Signature Egg Whites when they are mixed together before you add them to the pan for an omelet or frittata.

The hard cheese is made from part-skimmed cow's milk, and a serving has only 1.5 grams of fat.

Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano cheese added to organic eggs with leftover organic quinoa made in an electric cooker with organic diced tomatoes, all from Costco Wholesale. The quinoa has fewer carbohydrates and more protein than organic brown rice.

Fish in salsa

The fresh, wild-caught mahi-mahi I bought last week at the Hackensack Costco was $5.99 a pound or $2 less per pound than the same fillets I purchased at the warehouse store in December.

I squeezed fresh lime over the fish, which I cut into serving pieces, and then added a pinch of Aleppo pepper. 

They cooked for 10 minutes in Mexican green salsa I had heated on top of the stove to a gentle boil, and I ate the meaty and flaky fish and sauce over organic quinoa. 

This time, I used a preservative-free brand, Herdez Salsa Verde from Mexico, I found at ShopRite.

The label on the bottom of the plastic, 1-pound tub of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

Peeled garlic

Peeled garlic from the Christopher Ranch in California is a real convenience item, allowing you to chop up a handful of cloves, throw them into heated extra-virgin olive oil until they are fragrant, and stir-fry fresh broccoli or organic baby spinach from Costco with a little salt and red-pepper flakes.

A 3-pound bag of Monviso heirloom garlic cloves was $5.99 at the Hackensack Costco. 

Last week, I bought a bag with a use-by date of Feb. 15.

Healthy meals at home -- no cooking required

Two organic eggs from Costco Wholesale with leftovers -- wild-caught Icelandic haddock in Mexican Green Salsa and organic brown rice made in an electric cooker.

A frittata with pesto and sun-dried tomato served with leftover fish and green salsa.

I like to eat healthy, but I don't think of preparing meals at home as cooking.

I try to have good ingredients on hand -- such as bottled sauces and organic diced tomatoes -- so I can "assemble" a main dish and salad with a minimum of fuss.

And I try to do it as quickly as possible without recipes, butter, cream, bread, meat or poultry.

Canned fish, organic chicken stock and extra-virgin olive oil from Tuscany are some of the quality ingredients I always have on hand to help me make healthy meals at home.

On Friday, I came home around mid-afternoon and just couldn't get my mind off whole-wheat pasta spirals with sardines in tomato sauce.

This comfort food is one of my favorites, and luckily, I had everything on hand:  

A 1-pound package of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli, two cans of Moroccan sardines, a bottle of Silver Palate pasta sauce and a can of Kirkland Signature Organic Diced Tomatoes.

It was ready in 15 minutes.
 

No need for gallons of water. Use just enough water to cover the pasta. Don't salt the water. There is plenty of salt in the pasta sauce, diced tomatoes and grated cheese.

The finished dish with grated Pecorino Romano cheese from the freezer.

This morning, breakfast was leftover fusilli and pan-fried cod.

  


How to assemble the dish:

Boil water in one covered pot, and pour the pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, a few ounces of extra-virgin olive oil, herbs and red-pepper flakes in a non-stick pan and heat them up with the cover on.

Meanwhile, open 2 cans of sardines, drain in a plastic collander and rinse under running water to reduce sodium. Add to pan with sauce and chop up the sardines.

Trader Joe's whole-wheat fusilli cooks up al dente in about 9 minutes. Drain, add to other pan, mix to cover all of the pasta with sardine sauce and serve.

I drank a glass of Chianti, and followed with a wooden bowl of pre-washed Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, dressed simply in oil and vinegar.


 

Pan-fried cod bought fresh at Costco Wholesale. The side dish is mashed sweet potatoes and Kabocha squash with extra-virgin olive oil, all of which we had, below.

Kirkland Signature Organic No-Salt Seasoning is great for fish and mashed potatoes.

When we make fresh fish fillets with green salsa or organic diced tomatoes, all we do is heat up the sauce in a covered, non-stick pan; season the fish, place the fillets into the pan and cook them covered for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how thick they are.

We usually have fresh limes or lemons, and a bottle of Kirkland Signature Organic No-Salt Seasoning for the fish. That's 21 different spices and herbs.

Kirkland Signature egg whites can be used by themselves in open-face omelets or mixed with whole eggs and shredded cheese for frittatas, which are finished under the broiler.

For a quick frittata, mix liquid egg whites with whole eggs, a little low-fat milk and shredded or grated part skim milk cheese -- such as Pecorino Romano or Reggiano Parmigiano -- and pour into a heated non-stick, 10-inch pan with a little oil.

As the bottom firms up, place sun-dried tomatoes and refrigerated pesto on the surface. 

Place frittata under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the surface starts to brown, then remove from oven, cut into wedges and serve with leftover fish, rice or mashed sweet potatoes.