A late-summer bounty of wild salmon, tomatoes, peaches and more

Grilled fresh wild sockeye salmon from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro ($9.99 a pound), in a thick sauce of Salsa Roja from Whole Foods Market, Costco's organic diced tomatoes and fresh lime juice. A 2.3-pound fillet fed four with leftovers at a cost of less than $6 a person.

Using spray oil on a grill pan that straddles two burners on the top of our stove, I cooked seven serving pieces of the wild salmon over medium-high heat for 6 minutes to 8 minutes,  turning them once.

I plated all of the salmon, added the sauce and ate mine with leftover organic quinoa prepared in an electric cooker with cherry tomatoes from our garden, organic black beans and peeled garlic cloves.

We pick the cherry tomatoes when they are still green and let them ripen on the kitchen counter.

A box of large mangoes from Brazil was $8.99 last Sunday at H Mart in Little Ferry.

This morning, I made a simple 10-inch frittata with egg whites, plenty of grated cheese, cherry tomatoes, store-bought Romana Tomatoes, red-pepper flakes, Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning and dried mint.

Large South Jersey peaches from Costco (6 pounds for $7.99) started rotting on the kitchen counter two days after my wife brought them home, so I refrigerated them overnight, then trimmed and grilled them on the stove top to eat with eggs or fish.

Red snappers weighing 3 pounds to 4 pounds were on sale for $6.99 a pound last Sunday at H Mart in Little Ferry. My wife seasoned the cleaned whole fish, stuffed it with fresh okra, wrapped it in aluminum foil and baked it in the oven at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

A breakfast of Eggs in a Bowl, fried sweet plantains and a Spinach Empanada from Fusion Empanada, 838 Main St., Hackensack (1-201-880-9800).

For Eggs in a Bowl, my wife broke two whole organic eggs into an oven-proof bowl, seasoned them and added sweet pepper, onion and cherry tomatoes before baking them until the mixture browned on top.

My wife reheated two baked Shrimp Empanadas, one Lobster Empanada and one Spinach Empanada she picked up the day before ($3 for spinach, $3.50 for lobster or shrimp, including dipping sauces).

For a great side dish at any meal, I saute Earthbound Farm's Deep Green Blend of Organic Baby Kale, Chard and Spinach in olive and sesame oils, a little cheap sake and Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning, a blend of 21 spices and other ingredients. 

A 1.5-pound bag of the Deep Green Blend was $4.99 at the Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Big plates of food, early bird discount for cash at Giovanni's Restaurant

Filet of Sole alla Tagame at Giovanni's Restaurant in Elmwood Park is made with black olives, tomatoes, garlic, marsala wine and balsamic vinegar, and served with pasta or potatoes and vegetables, above.

Gamberi alla Scampi are large shrimp sauteed in a sherry garlic sauce over linguine or capellini.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

New Jersey may have more Italian-American restaurants than any other kind, but that doesn't make it any easier to find a good one.

Our last favorite BYO for moderately priced salads, pasta and fish, Bocconi Restaurant in Hackensack, closed suddenly last October.

On Saturday, in our search for a replacement, we returned to Giovanni's Restaurant, a storefront in Elmwood Park, where we ate twice before many years ago.

I noticed the long, rectangular dining room had been renovated and, when we got the menu, a three-course early bird dinner special at a discounted cash price of $14.95 per person.

You have a choice of eight appetizers (plus a salad) and 23 entrees (with pasta or potato and vegetable), and you also get coffee or tea and dessert.

That sounds like a great deal for a lot of food, but we decided to order one of the moderately priced a la carte entrees, which come with a side salad (all but one under $20). 

Enough for 2

Filet of Sole is available francese or broiled, but I asked whether the kitchen could prepare the fillets alla Tagame, the style listed for broiled salmon ($19.50 each).

There was enough white, flaky fish for two in marsala wine and balsamic vinegar, plus potatoes and mixed vegetables -- a perfect one-dish meal.

My mother-in-law ordered the Filleto di Salmon alla Tagame, and my wife had Gamberi alla Scampi, large shrimp in a rich sherry garlic sauce over linguine ($18.50).

She couldn't finish the al dente pasta, which I sampled, but I'd like to see this dish made with less sauce.

I loved my food, and we plan to return to Giovanni's when we're in the mood for Italian again.

When you ask for anchovies with the Cesare Romana side salad, you actually get anchovies.

Sweet green pepper sections cooked in balsamic vinegar come with the warm, crusty bread.

The Early Dinner Menu is served from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The dining room at Giovanni's in Elmwood Park.

Details

Giovanni's Restaurant, 430 Market St., in Marketplace of Elmwood Park, Elmwood Park; 201-791-3000. BYO, parking lot, closed Mondays.

Open from 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, and from 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Reservations recommended for dinner. 

Know what's in your bottled sauce when making penne with sardines

Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Penne with Victoria Marinara Sauce, skinless-and-boneless sardines, anchovies and cherry tomatoes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The half-dozen ingredients in Victoria Marinara Sauce invite you to improvise.

I often add extra-virgin olive oil, a few ounces of red wine, drained and rinsed anchovies, and seasonings, including powdered garlic, ground black pepper, red-pepper flakes and dried Italian herbs.

Then, I thicken the sauce with three or four cans of heart-healthy sardines with their oil that I mash with a fork first, plus fresh cherry tomatoes, and fresh mint and basil from my garden.

Even if you leave a few ounces of marinara in the 40-ounce bottle with which to poach eggs, you'll have plenty of sauce for 1 pound of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Penne from Italy or other shape of organic whole wheat pasta.

Cooking times, salt

ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's, all in Paramus, stock 1-pound packages of organic whole wheat pasta in various shapes ($1.29 or $1.49).

Not all of the cooking times listed on the packages are reliable, and I've found Whole Foods' imported whole wheat pasta cooks up al dente in much less time than listed, especially the shells.

No need to add salt to the water; there is plenty of sodium in bottled sauces, as well as in anchovies and sardines.

Victoria doesn't add sugar to its sauce, but it's getting harder and harder to find other brands without the sweetener. 

I even saw one brand with butter as the second ingredient after tomatoes.

Two organic eggs poached in leftover Victoria Marinara Sauce with grated cheese and smoked wild salmon, above. I ate them for breakfast over leftover organic whole wheat penne with sardines, below.

The ingredients listed on the front label of Victoria White Linen Marinara Sauce, sold by Costco Wholesale, differ slightly from the version sold in supermarkets. No added sugar is a big draw.

ShopRite in Paramus had a sale this week on Classico Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce without added sugar in 24-ounce jars ($1.49 each), but only reading the ingredients label would tell you the Traditional Sweet Basil, right, has added sugar.

You'll also find added sugar in all of these other Classico Pasta Sauces.

When I read the label on Bongiovi Pasta Sauce, also sold at the Paramus ShopRite, I was shocked to see butter as the second ingredient after Italian tomatoes.

At Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St. in Englewood, I found another take on pasta with sardines in this restaurant-quality Meal To Go, below.

I plated and reheated all but the Cucumber Salad with Feta Cheese. The complete dinners are reduced to $5.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left.

Jerry's also had small jars of fruit with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, and the apricot and plums I bought would pair nicely with the Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese I buy at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

Home cooking: Pulling together great ingredients from my favorite stores

For a snack at home, I layered smoked wild Alaskan salmon, reduced-fat Swiss cheese, Dijon mustard and sliced California black figs on Swedish crispbread, topping them with fresh mint leaves from my garden.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Swedish Food Market at IKEA in Paramus stocks a lot of bottled herring with way too much salt and fruit drinks with too much added sugar.

But the simple Swedish crispbread is irresistible: 

These crunchy disks -- each about 3 inches across -- invite you to layer cheese, smoked salmon and fresh figs on them for a midday snack.

Or, you can top them with sliced cheese, organic greens and tuna salad dressed with Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin.

IKEA sells two kinds -- Rye Crispbread and Multigrain Crispbread, both made in Finland -- in 8.8-ounce packages for $2.99 each.

I rely on Costco Wholesale in Teterboro for smoked wild Alaskan salmon ($14.89 per pound), reduced-fat sliced Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese (2 pounds for only $6.69 with an instant coupon last week), and Dijon mustard.

I picked up a pound of California Black Figs for $3.99 at Trader Joe's in Paramus, but had to refrigerate them to prevent spoilage.

I baked a pan of Fresh Wild Coho Salmon from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro with fresh spinach, organic diced tomatoes, pitted black olives, grated cheese, olive oil (on the spinach), fresh lime juice (on the fish) and fresh herbs from my garden.

I cut up the fillet, cooked the pieces skin-side down on a stove-top grill for 4 minutes, then placed them on the spinach. The pan spent another 7 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven. The organic diced tomatoes were cooked separately with red wine and seasonings, and were added along with the chopped herbs when the pan was removed from the oven.

Fresh wild salmon

If the past is any guide, fresh wild salmon will be available at Costco in Teterboro for another month or so.

Last week, my wife found a Fresh Wild Coho Salmon Fillet instead of the sockeye we've been buying since June ($9.99 a pound).

Meanwhile, I went to the Costco Business Center in Hackensack for a 1-pound package of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($4.89), the world's best-tasting salad.

The price fluctuates, and earlier this year, Costco was selling it for only $4.29 a pound, compared to $6.99 in most supermarkets.

When buying the salad, select packages that have little or no condensation to avoid the greens rotting before their use-by date, which is printed on the front label.

No dinner is complete without a salad and a glass of red wine.

A salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix with cherry tomatoes from our garden and kernels shaved off an ear of sweet Jersey corn, dressed simply with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The Organic Spring Mix has a new label, but the triple-washed greens are as delicious as ever. Earthbound Farm added the words "grown without GMOs," "a blend of tender baby greens" and "a versatile classic" to new label. See the ingredients, below.

The Earthbound Farm label on the back or bottom of the package.

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix can go straight from the container onto a plate or into a bowl. Here, I added cucumbers and our cherry tomatoes. Three large hothouse cucumbers from Costco Wholesale were $3.49.

I also like the Spring Mix from Olivia's Organics, but even on sale at H Mart in Little Ferry (5 ounces for $1.99), you'll pay more per ounce than at Costco for a 1-pound tub of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

With Kirkland Signature 100% Liquid Egg Whites from Costco, you can eat an omelet or frittata every day and not worry about cholesterol. Six 16-ounce cartons were $8.79.

At H Mart in Little Ferry on Sunday, Baby Mustard Greens, above, were on sale for 78 cents a pound; and Chinese Eggplant, below, were 99 cents a pound.

I grilled the eggplant slices on the stove top with spray oil and a little salt.

At ShopRite, my wife picked up a carton of Barilla Whole Grain Spaghetti made with 100% whole wheat, which I prepared with olive oil, fresh garlic, cherry tomatoes from our garden and homemade pesto. But the package was a couple of ounces shy of a pound and cost more than the 1-pound package of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti, which ShopRite also sells ($1.29). The cooked organic spaghetti feels better in your mouth, too.

When you buy six bottles of wine with prices ending in "9" at Total Wine & More in River Edge, you get an additional 10% off. I purchased six bottles of Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Cabernet and Carmenere for an average of under $7 each, plus tax.

Details

For fresh wild salmon and fresh fish from Iceland, smoked wild Alaskan salmon, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, fresh organic spinach, Dijon mustard and so many other great ingredients at great prices:

Costco Wholesale, 2 Teterboro Landing Drive, Teterboro; and Costco Wholesale Business Center, 80 S. River St., Hackensack.

For California Black Figs, organic sweet potatoes, organic whole wheat pasta; Green Plant, a 100% fruit and green food juice blend with no added sugar, and antibiotic- and preservative-free beef hot dogs and bacon:

Trader Joe's, 404 Route 17 north, Paramus.

For cans of pitted black olives, conventional sweet potatoes, grass-fed Australian beef, lactose-free milk and Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Pasta:

ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east at Forest Avenue, Paramus. 

For a large variety of Asian greens, fresh fruit, fresh whole fish for as little as $1.99 a pound and prepared Korean food:

H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry; go for the low prices and ignore the shabby entrance and drab interior of this large supermarket.

For crispbread; frozen meatballs, including a vegetarian version; and other food from Scandinavia:

Swedish Food Market at IKEA, 100 IKEA Drive, Paramus. 

For inexpensive red wine:

Total Wine & More, 135 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge.

A big, bustling family restaurant where no entree costs more than $6.99

A Smoked Salmon Sandwich is served on a wild-garlic sourdough bun with salad greens, pickled red cabbage, spicy barbecue glaze, and sweet and sour pickles for only $4.99 in the stylish restaurant at IKEA in Paramus, below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When you're hungry in Paramus -- the shopping center capital of New Jersey -- you can't beat the bargain meals in the restaurant at IKEA, a maze-like home furnishings store.

Swedish Meatballs aren't the only draw.

Breakfast -- eggs, turkey sausage, potatoes, pancakes and strawberry jam -- is served until 11 a.m. for only $2.

Starting at 5 p.m., you can enjoy a dinner entree of antibiotic-free chicken with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables for only $4.

Baked salmon with a side dish is $6.99.

I met a friend for lunch there on Thursday, when an adult purchasing an entree for $3.99 or more could get two kids' meals for free (regularly $2.49 each).

Predictably, the place was packed with happy families noisily bonding over food.

IKEA calls the enormous dining room a restaurant, but you'll have to grab a tray and wait on a cafeteria line, walking past displays of prepared food in cold cases or wait to be served from a steam table.

Salmon two ways

If you've ever shopped at IKEA for home furnishings, you know the maze-like store requires a lot of energy, and even with a map, many people feel like they are walking in circles.

So, you can look at the inexpensive restaurant fare as necessary to fortify you for the upcoming shopping ordeal.

I went for IKEA's delicious farmed salmon two ways:

A shredded Smoked Salmon Sandwich that combines sweet, sour and savory flavors, and a platter of tasty Marinated Salmon with spring mix and a dill dressing, which was too sweet for me ($4.99 each).

My friend enjoyed the classic Swedish Meatballs swimming in gravy with mashed potatoes and lingonberries, also $4.99. He also had one garlic toast (69 cents).

We washed down our lunches with big cans of carbonated Pear Cider and Apple Cider ($1.99 each.)

About 1:15 on Thursday afternoon, a serpentine cafeteria line at IKEA took about 15 minutes to get through and to pay at a register. There are two separate lines, and tray holders on wheels are available.

An appetizer of Marinated Salmon with fresh dill, spring mix, a lemon wedge and mustard sauce was $4.99, above and below.

A 16.9-ounce can of carbonated Pear Cider was $1.99. Apple Cider also was available.

This bill of fare is displayed at the foot of the escalator that takes you up to the restaurant. Thursday was the last day kids' meals were free every day. Now, free kids' meals, shown on the right, are available only on Tuesdays. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.

IKEA pledges that all food waste is used for composting or biogas.

At the height of the lunch hour on Thursday, a homeless man made himself at home in the IKEA dining room.

Details

IKEA, 100 IKEA Drive, Paramus; 1-201-843-1881. Free garage parking. Closed Sundays.

In addition to the restaurant, the store has a Bistro serving hot dogs and similar items, and a Swedish Food Market, both on the lower level.

IKEA is an acronym made up of the founder's name, and the farm and village where he grew up in Sweden.