Food shopping: Your melon needs a belt, salmon bounty, veggie burgers, fish balls

Costco Wholesale in Teterboro was offering several brands of seedless watermelons last week, including one that urged shoppers to "protect your melon" and "buckle up," above. The label also shows a body with a melon head wearing a seat belt.

Yum-Yum! was another brand sold at the Costco warehouse store off of Route 46 in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

We're at the height of the season for fresh wild salmon, sugar-sweet seedless watermelons, Jersey peaches, plump blueberries and other great "summer foods."

Unfortunately, no single warehouse store or supermarket can satisfy my family's need for them and offer great prices, too.

So, me and my wife continue to make the rounds at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro and Costco's Business Center in Hackensack; H Marts in Little Ferry, Englewood and Ridgefield; H & Y in Ridgefield, part of another Korean supermarket chain; and ShopRites in Paramus, Englewood and Hackensack.

When I posted this, I also should have mentioned our occasional visits to Whole Foods Market in Paramus for naturally raised meat and wild-caught Gulf Shrimp, as well as moderately priced organic whole wheat pasta, salsas, sauces and beans sold under the 365 Everyday Value label.

I also go to Trader Joe's for good deals on juices and organic sweet potatoes, and uncured, antibiotic-free bacon and hot dogs for the meat eaters in the family.

If nothing else, going food shopping several times a week is good exercise.

NYT Cooking

I've been looking over lots of recipes during a trial subscription to NYT Cooking, but won't be paying to continue.

Sam Sifton, the ebullient editor, doesn't offer much to a senior citizen like me who is watching his cholesterol and weight, and who doesn't eat meat or poultry.

Here we are at the height of the fresh wild salmon season, and I haven't seen a Times recipe for sockeye or any other fish.

Sifton, Melissa Clark and other Times staffers eat lots of chicken, beef and bacon -- without a cautionary note on poultry and meat raised on harmful human antibiotics and growth hormones.

MORE FOR LESS: A bounty of fresh wild salmon means I can buy a bigger fillet at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro. Here, I prepared a reduction of organic diced tomatoes, shallots, garlic, red wine and seasonings, and served the grilled salmon with fresh herbs from my garden and a homemade tzatziki or yogurt sauce (non-fat Greek yogurt, grated cucumbers, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice).

$5 PER PERSON: At $9.99 a pound, a Sockeye Salmon fillet of about 2 pounds yielded eight serving pieces (two for each member of my family) for about $5 per person.

ORGANIC VEGGIE BURGERS: A 3-pound, 12-burger package of Dr. Preager's Organic Harvest Veggie Burgers, made with organic chickpeas, quinoa and vegetables (normally $14.49), was on sale for $10.99 with an instant coupon at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

GO FISH: Fish balls made with fillets, shrimp and tofu are sold frozen at the H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry, for $5.99 a pound (and on Sunday, you can try a free sample near the fresh fish counter). I prepared a broth of organic chicken stock, red wine, water sake, sesame oil and seasonings, and added a large bunch of mustard greens, chopped and washed, in the last few minutes of cooking.

WHOLE WHEAT PASTA: Though not organic, Barilla 100% Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti and 100% Whole Wheat Linguine are on sale for 99 cents (1-pound box) at the Little Ferry H Mart until the end of the year. I also found a 3-pound package of Japanese-style soba or buckwheat noodles made by Danya in Korea on sale for $4.99.

SWEET MEXICAN MANGOES: I've been buying a box of Ataulfo or Champagne Mangoes from Mexico every Sunday at H Mart in Little Ferry. These wonderfully sweet mangoes have grown in size and price. Now, you get 16 mangoes for $12.99.

 SHOPRITE SEARCH: I'm searching for a ShopRite to replace the disorganized store in Paramus, where I've been stopping on the way home from the gym two or three days a week. Today, I went to the Hackesnack ShopRite, above, and couldn't find much. The store carries yams, but not sweet potatoes, and didn't have any Jersey peaches. Other produce was priced higher than I'm used to from the Paramus ShopRite and Little Ferry H Mart.

NATURAL COLD CUTS: At the Hackensack ShopRite, I did find Black Bear-brand Smoked Ham and Herbed Turkey Breast, both raised without antibiotics, at $4.49 for a 7-ounce package, right.

FOR GARLIC LOVERS: We've been buying 3-pound pouches of peeled Christopher Ranch California Garlic from Teterboro Costco ($8.99), but the cloves sometimes get moldy before the "best by" date. Today, I boiled 3 pounds of yams and lots of garlic cloves from a new bag, then drained and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil, adding cinnamon, curry powder, red-pepper flakes, black pepper and other seasonings.

Two other brands of seedless watermelon sold at the Teterboro Costco, above and below. The melon grown in Maryland or Delaware invites shoppers to "experience the local flavor," above.

Do Bergen County food shoppers really need a bunch of big new supermarkets?

This is the entrance and wheelchair ramp to one of the stores in a new shopping center at 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry that will be anchored by a new 43,000-square-foot H Mart, which will open in the vacant half of the building where the old, tired Korean supermarket is still doing business. 

The new H Mart, not shown in this photo, is expected to open in September, but it isn't known whether the parking lot will be paved to eliminate all of the puddles and potholes that discourage shoppers from going to the old store, below.

Editor's note: As of May 2018, a new H Mart opened in Paramus, but the Chinese supermarket in Hackensack and another new H Mart in Little Ferry have been delayed.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Before the year is out, an enormous Wegmans, two new Korean supermarkets and a Chinese supermarket will open their doors to shoppers who already have too many choices for where to spend their food dollars.

It's not as if Bergen County isn't saturated with traditional supermarkets, including ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Acme; two Costco Wholesale warehouses, two Trader Joe's; and for shoppers who insist on buying only organic and naturally raised or grown food, two Whole Foods Markets.

7 H Marts

Meanwhile, six Korean supermarkets called H Mart already operate in Bergen County -- the wealthiest in the state -- and a seventh is expected to open soon on Route 17 in Paramus.

A new Little Ferry H Mart with a food court is set to open in September, but that 43,000-square-foot supermarket will replace an older H Mart in the other half of the same building at 260 Bergen Turnpike, where Valley Fair operated for many years.

H&Y and other smaller Korean markets also operate in Bergen County.

And 99 Ranch Market, a Chinese-owned supermarket chain based in California, is expected to open in the Home Depot Shopping Center on Hackensack Avenue in Hackensack, near Route 4.

Just last month, Aldi opened a small supermarket near Sears in Hackensack.

Wegmans

Like Manhattan-based Fairway Market, Wegmans ignored Bergen County for many years, but an 108,000-square-foot behemoth, including a liquor store and burger restaurant, is scheduled to open on Sept. 24 in Montvale, near the New York State Border.

That's a 30-plus minute drive from Hackensack on either the perpetually jammed Garden State Parkway or antiquated local roads -- a trip I might venture to make once or twice a year, given all the great food shopping much closer to my home. 

The store, built on farmland bought from DePiero's Farm Stand and Greenhouses, met stiff local opposition. It will have taken more than 5 years from proposal to the scheduled grand opening.

In 2011 and 2012, I visited the nearly 140,000-square-foot Wegmans in Woodbridge, only because I worked part time in East Brunswick at the time:

Do we need a Wegmans in Bergen County? 

The biggest supermarket in New Jersey?

Last week, Whole Foods Market at Bergen Town Center in Parmaus was offering fresh wild Copper River Sockeye Salmon from Alaska for $29.99 a pound, compared to $16.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center off Route 46. 

At Whole Foods, King Salmon from the Copper River was $39.99 a pound. In other words, I bought 2.27 pounds of fresh wild Copper River Sockeye from Costco -- dinner for 3, plus leftovers -- for less than 1 pound of King Salmon from the Paramus Whole Foods.

At the Teterboro Costco today, there was a limited amount of Copper River Sockeye Salmon fillets available for $16.99 a pound, above.

For dinner tonight, I enjoyed fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon with Pesto, Greek Yogurt and Fresh Herbs.

I used a grill sprayed with oil that straddles two burners, and cooked the salmon over medium-high heat for 7 minutes to 8 minutes, turning the serving pieces once, above and below. 

  

American Littoral Society

 means coastal conservation

Food shopping: Fish, fruit and everything else taste so much better when on sale

Pacific Dover Sole Fillet was on sale for only $6.99 a pound at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, allowing me to prepare a one-dish dinner for four for about $5 a person, below, after I added organic spinach, organic diced tomatoes, capers, grated cheese, mushrooms, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice and pesto, all of which I had on hand.

Dinner was ready in about 10 minutes, once I layered the spinach, thin fillets and all of the other ingredients in a pan lined with parchment paper and placed the pan in a preheated 400-degree oven.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Whole Foods Market app on my smartphone alerts me to sales and coupons at the Paramus store only a couple miles from my home.

So, it's easy for me to run out and take advantage of a discount coupon on Wild Gulf Shrimp or a sale on Pacific Dover Sole and organic pears.

On the same day I picked up the fresh, wild-caught sole, the Paramus Whole Foods at Bergen Town Center had a sale on Organic Bartlett Pears from Argentina ($1.99 a pound).

They ripened on my kitchen counter in a couple of days, and were sweet and juicy, perfect as a dessert with cheese.

ShopRite has unveiled Wholesome Pantry, a label for antibiotic-free chicken, previously sold under the Readington Farms brand; organic food, and other items free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

I found Wholesome Pantry Organic Garbanzo Beans on sale for 88 cents a can at the Paramus ShopRite (normally $1.31 each), and added them to organic brown rice, organic diced tomatoes, organic chicken stock and chopped fresh garlic in an electric cooker.

This is a great side dish, but can also serve as a light dinner when topped with organic spring mix, cucumbers and tomatoes dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

A light dinner of salad over organic brown rice.

Costco coupons

Costco Wholesale doesn't have sales, but does mail booklets of instant coupons to members of the discount warehouse in Teterboro and Business Center in Hackensack (you don't have to clip the coupons, but they're not interchangeable).

For example, three 46-ounce cans of Dole 100% percent Pineapple Juice are only $4.09 with an instant coupon at the Business Center through Saturday.

The Teterboro warehouse sells a limited selection of skinless-and-boneless Icelandic fish fillets -- cod, haddock and flounder -- for a rock bottom $7.99 or $8.99 a pound.

Korean markets

The H Marts in Little Ferry and Ridgefield have lower sale prices for produce, rice and other items than other stores in the same Korean chain.

And the H Mart at 25 Lafayette Avenue in Englewood offers a 50% discount on any sliced dessert rice cakes left after 4 p.m.

I got $7 off a 2-pound package of Jinga-brand Assorted Rice Cakes that was marked $13.99.

But stores in the H&Y Marketplace chain can beat H Mart on some items.

This month, I found a box of 16 Ataulfo or Champagne Mangoes for $9.99 (regularly $15.99) at the Little Ferry H Mart.

These intensely sweet mangoes were available at the Teterboro Costco for about $1 each.

H Marts also are known for low prices and sales on fresh wild-caught whole fish.

Organic Bartlett Pears on sale for $1.99 a pound this month at Whole Foods Market, Route 4 east and Forest Avenue in Paramus.

Champagne Mangoes from Mexico on sale at the H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry. Buyer beware: Parking lot is filled with potholes and often flooded.

When I found Organic Garbanzo Beans on sale at the ShopRite in Paramus, I added them to organic brown rice, tomatoes, chicken stock and chopped fresh garlic in an electric cooker for dinner.

Organic brown rice with garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes and garlic.

A 1-pound package of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, above, or Wholesome Garden Organic Spring Mix was selling for $3.69 this week at the Costco Wholesale Business Center, 80 S. River St. in Hackensack.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Organic Brown Eggs were introduced at $6.99 for two dozen, but the  price went down to $5.99 and has stayed there.

Dole 100% Pineapple Juice is free of genetically modified ingredients, and comes in BPA-free cans.

On Tuesday, I bought about 1.75 pounds of boneless-and-skinless Icelandic Flounder Fillets at Costco Wholesale in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center off of Route 46 ($7.99 a pound), and prepared them with Asian Indian spices, organic spinach and other ingredients for dinner, above and below.

This one-dish flounder dinner for four with leftovers was ready after 15 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven.

At Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St. in Englewood, complete restaurant-quality dinners to go are cut to $5.99 from $7.99 after 4 p.m., if there are any left.

Eating Out & Eating In: Sanducci's takeout, red shrimp, fish tacos and more

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: A day after we ordered takeout from Sanducci's Trattoria, 620 Kinderkamack Road in River Edge, I enjoyed leftover Arugula Salad with shaved cheese in a lemony dressing, and Grilled Vegetables in a balsamic glaze.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Zoning decisions and dining out don't mix, as you can see at Sanducci's Trattoria and other restaurants along Kinderkamack Road in River Edge.

In their hunger for ratables, town fathers approved restaurants like Sanducci's and Joyce Chinese Cuisine with all or most of the parking in the back, requiring customers to hike up a hill to the front door.

We have always like the food at Sanducci's, but don't go there that often, even though the trattoria has an elevator off of the parking lot that delivers you to the back of a second-level dining room.

So, we called for takeout last Saturday night, and picked up our order, which was enough to feed 3 with leftovers:

From the online dinner menu, I chose an appetizer of Grilled Vegetables ($9.50), Arugula Salad ($10.50), Shrimp Sanducci ($19.95) and a 12-inch, thin-crust Quattro Stagione Pizza ($12.95).

You can have dine-in and takeout coupons emailed to you, but they are valid Sundays to Thursdays only. See: Sanducci's Trattoria

GREEN NOODLES: I asked for the Shrimp Sanducci to be made without the "touch of cream" listed on the menu, and loved the homemade green fettuccine noodles and all of the vegetables.

THIN CRUST: The Quattro Stagione Pizza also is made with lots of vegetables.

FRESH GARLIC: The lemon and oil dressing for the Arugula Salad includes chopped fresh garlic.

MISSING: As for the Grilled Vegetables with balsamic glaze, I got all of the vegetables listed on the menu except radicchio.

OUT OF THEIR SHELLS: I brought home a box of Argentinian Red Shrimp for Sunday dinner, and my wife shelled and deveined them. They cooked in less than 10 minutes in olive oil on top of the stove, and I served them over tri-color organic quinoa from Trader Joe's.

FROM THE DEEP FREEZE: I've paid more than $10 a pound for these Pescanova-brand wild-caught shrimp, which are deep frozen on board the fishing boat and packed into boxes. Last Sunday, H&Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield, had them for $26.99. The box listed the weight as 4.4 pounds (about $6.14 a pound), but the H&Y label showed the weight as 5.1 pounds (about $5.30 a pound).

LEMON JUICE AND OLIVE OIL: I marinated the shelled shrimp in fresh lemon juice, red-pepper flakes and other seasonings, and dumped them into a large pan preheated with olive oil, turning them once. They were done when they curled up.

FROZEN BUT TENDER: Most wild shrimp sold in North Jersey is previously frozen, but these shelled and deveined Argentinian Red Shrimp are unusually tender after cooking, and even a day later after they are reheated in  a microwave. One preparation tip is to place the frozen shrimp in a pot and fill it with warm-to-hot water to make shelling them easier.

WILD SESAME: Jun's Tofu is made in H&Y Marketplace, and mine was still warm when I got home, so I tried a couple of spoonfuls right from the container. The tofu is made with wild black sesame seeds and sea salt.

NON GMO: A 1-pound container of Wild Sesame Tofu is $5, right. Jun's Tofu is free of genetically modified organisms.

FREE SAMPLES: On the weekends, H&Y Marketplace offers free samples of fruit, cooked and raw seafood, noodle soup and other items.

BEST KIMCHI: Arirang Kimchi relocated to a storefront in the H&Y Shopping Center from Englewood. Cabbage and other kimchis are made on site with no preservatives or MSG. A large bottle of Mahk or Cabbage Kimchi is $12.

BETTER BUYS: I saw a few better buys at H&Y than at the H Mart in Little Ferry, and you don't have to ford large puddles or dodge potholes to get them.

PRODUCE: Large heads of Red Leaf Lettuce were 79 cents each, and three Shingo-brand Korean Pears were $5.99. H&Y also charges less per pound for the Argentinian Red Shrimp, which are sold in smaller quantities at the H Mart in Englewood.

NICE SURPRISE: My son went to buy fish at H Mart, and surprised me with a takeout order of Fish Tacos from Taqueria Los Gueros, 48 W. Palisade Ave., Englewood. There are four tacos per order ($8).

STRIPED BASS: My wife prepared a sauce from a Fish Masala, a mixture of Asian Indian spices, above and below. Striped bass were $5.99 a pound at the Englewood H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave.

FLIP THEM: We prepared the striped bass in a large, covered pan straddling two burners on our stove. They would have been ready sooner, if we had turned them over during the cooking.

GREAT DEAL IN TAKEOUT: Complete, restaurant-quality dinners to go are a great deal at Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St. in Englewood, especially after 4 p.m., when they are reduced to $5.99 from $7.99.

STEAK, CHICKEN AND FISH: On Wednesday, I picked up three dinners -- steak, chicken thighs and red snapper. My fish dinner included Rigatoni with Eggplant, and three salads, above.

FREE SAMPLES: Jerry's puts out so many free samples of cheese, bread, sausage and other items many customers are constantly chewing as they browse.

SOME LIKE IT HOT: The Green Papaya Salad ($8.95) at Bangkok Garden Thai Restaurant, 261 Main St. in Hackensack. The waitress asked me how spicy I wanted it on a scale of 1 to 10. I said 5, and that turned out to be too hot for me, but I finished it in between frequent gulps of cold water.

NO NEED TO DUCK: My friend Arthur ordered a lunch special, boneless Basil Duck ($12.95), which came with a salad in a peanut dressing, below. 

PASTA AND EGGS: Two organic eggs fried in olive oil with organic guacamole and Mexican-style salsa, all from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro. I ate them with leftover Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta from Whole Foods Market prepared in a bottled red sauce with anchovies and sardines.

EGG-WHITE OMELET OF THE DAY: I've also used the guacamole and salsa in an egg-white omelet, along with smoked wild salmon and reduced fat cheese. An omelet stuffed with cheese, salsa and Costco's Kirkland Signature Natural Peanut Butter (creamy) also wasn't bad.