Check first for excessive salt and sugar, then enjoy the poetry of some food labels

Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale with organic sunny side up eggs, also from Costco, and brown rice.

Along with organic salsa and low-fat Swiss cheese, the same smoked wild salmon makes a delicious filling in an egg-white omelet.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Did you know those silken, pleasantly salty slices of smoked wild salmon from Costco Wholesale were previously frozen?

Or that the wedge of crumbly Parmigiano Reggiano, which is cut and packed in Italy for Costco, is a hard cheese "made today as it was centuries ago"?

You can find this and other information about some of the best items at Costco on the same labels that list sugar and sodium content.

And all of the Kirkland Signature items I discuss today are a much better value than national brands sold in supermarkets.

Frozen whole

The Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon, for example, is from fish that are immediately frozen whole after they are caught "in the ice-cold waters off the coast of Alaska."

Then, the salmon are "cold smoked using time-honored traditions and minimal ingredients: salt, brown sugar and natural wood smoke." 

"Sockeye Salmon are a natural source of healthy Omega-3 fatty acids."

A 2-ounce serving of the smoked salmon, which is sliced, contains 650 milligrams of sodium or 27% of the recommended daily limit.

I usually use about that or less with eggs or in an omelet or sandwich. 

I also like to roll up slices of salmon and reduced fat-Swiss cheese with organic mixed greens and a little Dijon mustard for a breadless snack.

Avoid smoked salmon from farmed fish, which are usually raised with harmful antibiotics and colored artificially.

See: Look for high-fructose corn syrup

 in processed food

Costco Wholesale's price of $18.89 for 1 pound of Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon is lower than at any other store in northern New Jersey.

Italian geography

The wrapper for the Parmigiano Reggiano -- often called "the King of Cheeses" -- offers a geography lesson:

The cheese "uses the highest quality milk from provinces located between the Po River and Apennine Mountains" in the north of Italy.

"Only premium wheels are selected and aged for 24 months, allowing the intense, fruity, nutty flavor and grainy hard texture to develop.

"Each wedge of Kirkland Signature Parmigiano Reggiano is carved from a wheel that has passed Italy's rigorous maturation standards...."

And the wrapper offers tips on how to enjoy this wonderful cheese, which has less fat because it's made from part-skimmed cow's milk:

"Freshly grate, shred or shave on traditional pasta dishes, salads and rustic soups. 

"Chunk and serve with fresh pear slices and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Use the rind when cooking to add a burst of flavor to stews, stocks and risotto.

"Pair with a Chianti Classico or Chardonnay."

A 1-inch cube contains 180 milligrams of sodium or  7% of the recommended daily limit for an individual.

Formaggi Zanetti in Italy supplies the cheese to Costco, which pledges:

"Every Kirkland Signature product is guaranteed to meet or exceed the quality standards of the leading national brands.

"If you are not completely satisfied, your money will be refunded."

Kirkland Signature Organic Quinoa is grown in the mountains of Peru.

Say "keen-wah"

With fewer carbs than rice or pasta, Kirkland Signature Organic Quinoa is one of my favorite weight-watching bread substitutes.

"From Andean farmers to your table" is the message on the front of the 4.5-pound bag.

On the back, you can read the story of this easy to cook, gluten-free quinoa, which is pronounced "keen-wah."

"Quinoa -- known as the 'Mother Grain' in South American culture -- dates back to the Incan Empire and is actually a seed, not a grain.

"Today, we enjoy quinoa for its great taste and nutritional properties. Quinoa is one of nature's complete plant proteins.

"Our quinoa is cultivated by small-holder farmers in the Andean Mountains, who remain committed to sustainably grown, organic quinoa and continue to honor the farming techniques of their ancestors."

How to cook

You'll also find cooking instructions for this pre-washed quinoa from Peru (no need to rinse):

Listed as optional: "Toast quinoa in a dry skillet before cooking for an authentic South American flavor."

I'll have to try that. 

I prepare mine in an electric rice cooker, adding 2 cups of organic chicken broth for each cup of quinoa.

I also add whole garlic cloves or a can of organic diced tomatoes or chickpeas or all three, plus some olive oil and salt, and cook them on the "white rice" setting.

Costco's Organic Quinoa contains no salt. 

A quarter cup dry has 3 grams of "sugars," 3 grams of dietary fiber and 6 grams of protein.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto used as a spread on Dave's Killer Bread, an organic loaf with 21 grains or seeds that also is available at Costco.

Red wine, pesto

Kirkland Signature's delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from California in the 1.5-liter bottle ($7.99) offers great value. Check out the tasting notes on the label:

"...Vibrant, juicy flavors of black currant with broad, red fruit notes that linger on the palate, and are surrounded by hints of spice and sweet smoke with a graceful finish of cherry and mocha."

So, both the wine and the label are a mouthful.

Kirkland Signature's wonderful Basil Pesto is a refrigerated product that doesn't need to be heated when dressing pasta or when used as a sandwich spread.

You also can try it with scrambled eggs.

According to the label, the Basil Pesto contains only Genovese basil grown "in the Liguria region of Italy, which is a narrow strip of mountainous land bordering the Mediterranean Sea and surrounding the city of Genoa" [where pesto originated].

"Liguria is the only approved D.O.P. [an Italian acronym for Protected Designation of Origin] basil-growing region in Italy, because its unique soil, sea air, mild climate and soft spring ran create a pure, sweet basil."

However, a quarter-cup contains 26% of the recommended daily limit of sodium for an individual.

Of course, you wouldn't find that much pesto on a portion of pasta or if you use it as a sandwich spread.

Eating In + Eating Out: Sugary yogurt, pesto with fish, red shrimp, bargain Italian

Hunting for yogurt with less added sugar, I decided to try no-fat Fage Greek yogurt from Costco Wholesale, but the idiotic packaging was a complete turnoff -- with the fruit preparation in a small compartment and thicker-than-usual strained yogurt in a big compartment. Just out of the refrigerator, the fruit mixture was too thick to flow into the yogurt, defeating the package design.

Yoplait Light has only 10 grams of sugar and 90 calories per 6-ounce container, compared with 16 grams of sugar and 120 calories in Fage's 5.3-ounce container. With a doubled coupon, Yoplait Light fat-free yogurt was 40 cents each at ShopRite, Forest Avenue and Route 4 east in Paramus, below.

There are far too many choices in the yogurt aisle.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

With added sugar turning up in dry red wine, bottled pasta sauces and other products, I'm starting to worry about all those sweetened yogurts I've been eating.

Lately, I've started buying non-fat Greek yogurt, which adds a guilt-free creaminess to fish and egg dishes.

If I want to indulge my sweet tooth, I can drizzle a little agave syrup over the plain yogurt.

Most times, I can be just as happy with a savory preparation, such as adding fresh and dried herbs, and extra-virgin olive oil, then eating it off of a plate with a spoon, wrapping it in Armenian lavash or stuffing the yogurt into a Syrian pocket bread.  

A dish I loved as a kid was mejadra -- cooked rice and lentils topped with a thin yogurt sauce containing peeled cucumber pieces and dried mint.

Sugar in wine

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says a 5-ounce glass of red table wine typically contains about 0.9 grams of total sugar, which may include added sugar, sugar from unfermented grape juice and sugar that occurs naturally in grapes.

However, the only way to find out how much sugar may have been added is to contact the producer directly, The New York Times reports.

One state, California, bars added sugar at any point in the wine-making process.

How sweet is it?

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting added sugar intake to no more than 10% of daily calories, which is about 12 teaspoons or 50 grams, The Times says.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting intake even further, the newspaper said:

No more than 6 teaspoons (about 25 grams or 100 calories) per day for women, and no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams, 150 calories) per day for men.

So, the 16 grams of sugar in one 5.3-ounce container of that Fage no-fat yogurt with a fruit preparation is more than half of the recommended daily maximum for women under the heart association guidelines.

You won't find a recommended daily limit for sugar listed on any nutrition label -- unlike all the other ingredients.

A homemade mixture of non-fat Greek Yogurt with minced garlic adds creaminess to a pair of organic eggs.

Two 32-ounce containers of non-fat Greek Yogurt were $5.99 at Costco Wholesale in the Teterboro Landing shopping center off of Route 46 in Teterboro.

After I removed the pan from the oven, I added Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and Greek Yogurt to Monk Fish Fillets prepared with fresh spinach, tomato, pitted black olives, capers, grated cheese and fresh lemon juice (20 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven). Yogurt, pesto, fish, spinach and tomato were from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

I also prepared a pound of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli ($1.50 at ShopRite) with Costco's Basil Pesto and Organic Pignoli Nuts, as well as fresh herbs from my garden.

Wild-caught jumbo Red Shrimp from Argentina cook quickly in organic chicken stock, sesame oil and sake, getting a shower of chopped fresh mint, oregano and rosemary before they were plated, above and below.

I sauteed cut-up sweet pepper, onion and garlic for several minutes before adding the shrimp, which we had to defrost, peel and devein, and turned them once during the cooking. They were ready when they curled up and turned white. The payoff for all that work is some of the tenderest shrimp I've ever eaten.

Argentinian Red or Pink Shrimp are sold frozen in 4.4 pound boxes for $24.99 at H&Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield. I bought the box on Sunday, but the sign carries April sale dates.

H&Y or Hanyang Marketplace appears to rent out space to independent merchants whose in-store concessions offer tofu, ginseng and other products. 

I steered clear of this display of Korean salt.

H&Y Marketplace sells Korean comfort food for less than H Mart, a bigger chain of supermarkets. Trays of kimbap, a seaweed, vegetable, rice and fish-cake roll, were $3.99 and $4.99, above, and japchae was $4.99, below.

H&Y's japchae is a meatless version of the popular translucent-noodle dish made from yam flour.

I drove to Al Dente Restaurant in Elmwood Park for Italian-American takeout on Saturday afternoon. A generous serving of Fillet of Sole alla Tagame with sauteed black olives, tomatoes, garlic, marsala wine and balsamic vinegar was $18.95 with vegetables, potato and a Caesar Salad. The same preparation of salmon was $19.50, and Jumbo Shrimp Oreganata over linguine was $18.50. 

Al Dente, formerly Giovanni's, also offers a three-course dinner daily from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. -- including entrees of chicken, veal, shrimp or pasta, plus vegetables, potato, salad, coffee or tea and dessert -- for $14.95 cash or $18.95 with a credit card. But the Early Dinner menu is not available for takeout. 

DETAILS: Al Dente Restaurant is a BYO in the Market Place strip mall at 430 Market St., Elmwood Park; 1-201-791-3000. Reservations recommended. A sign with the restaurant's new name is expected to go up in July. Website: New name, same owners