Eating In + Eating Out: Victor's Healthy Kitchen on YouTube; Fattal's, Lotus Cafe

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

After I gave up meat and poultry more than 5 years ago, I had to come up with recipes for fish, eggs and pasta for the nights my wife prepared a chicken, pork, beef, lamb or goat dish.

I've described the preparation of these meatless dishes in my blogs, The Sasson Report and Do You Really Know What You're Eating?

Now, I've started to post videos on a YouTube channel called Victor's Healthy Kitchen, showing how easy it is to assemble meatless meals at home.

I cook in large quantities, using leftovers to cut down on meal-preparation times in the next several days, but all of my recipes can be adjusted for one or two people.



I am also posting videos from the stores where I shop, including Costco Wholesale, Whole Foods Market, ShopRite, Trader Joe's, H Mart and H&Y Marketplace.



I am trying to buy as much organic or non-GMO food as I can to cut down on the pesticides, chemicals and harmful antibiotics that we ingest.

My visits to the Whole Foods Market in Paramus have increased to take advantage of lower prices for organics, fish and shrimp after the merger with Amazon, and Costco seems to be adding organics every day.

ShopRite also has christened a new line of organic and non-organic food, as well as antibiotic-free poultry, called Wholesome Pantry.

On Monday, on the way home from doing an errand in Bernardsville, we stopped in Paterson to shop at Fattal's, and pick up takeout from Aleppo Restaurant, at Main and Thomas streets (falafel, muhammara, salad and bread).

During our one dinner out last week, we saw the first women servers at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack in the nearly 30 years I've been going to the Chinese restaurant.

Spinach & Cheese Pies are among the savory baked goods offered at Fattal's, a bakery, grocery, butcher shop and cafe that also sells gold jewelry at 975 Main St., Paterson, in the Middle Eastern Shopping District called South Paterson.

At Fattal's, I picked up a half-gallon of Merve Ayran Yogurt Drink flavored with mint ($5.49).

Al Shark-brand Moroccan Sardines in tomato sauce, in red boxes, are 99 cents each, compared to skinless-and-boneless sardines in soya oil for $1.69 a can.

Some of the offerings in Fattal's small cafe, below.

On the way home from Fattal's and Aleppo Restaurant on Monday afternoon, we stopped at the Aldi Supermarket on Main Street in Hackensack to take advantage of a sale on a 1-pound package of triple-washed Organic Spring Mix ($3.49), a great salad with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

See Victor's Healthy Kitchen for a video on how to prepare organic sunny side up eggs and smoked wild salmon, which I served over leftover organic whole wheat spaghetti with sardines and anchovies.

Homemade Tuna and Sardine Salad with diced onion, sweet peppers and celery dressed in Dijon mustard, lemon juice and cumin, plus a non-fat Greek yogurt sauce with cucumber, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil called tzatziki.

We had dinner last Saturday night at Lotus Cafe in the Home Depot Shopping Center, 450 Hackensack Ave., Hackensack (201-488-7070). Our whole butterflied Striped Bass with Scallion & Ginger was enough for two with leftovers, but took 20 minutes to steam ($28.95).

A seasonal item, Sauteed Chinese Star Squash ($11.95), above, and brown rice, below, completed our delicious meal.

This hot chili pepper paste is available on request.

Eating In: Delightful summer foods, plus a $230 cash rebate from Costco Wholesale

At home, I plated grilled fresh wild Sockeye Salmon Fillets, accented with Basil Pesto and refreshing Greek Yogurt, alongside grilled ripe California peaches for a wonderful summer dinner. All of the ingredients came from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Sasson Report is taking a short break, but you'll find links to some of my most popular posts at the end.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

I just made another batch of tzatziki, the refreshing Greek yogurt sauce I've been serving alongside those wonderful wild sockeye salmon fillets I buy at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

In fact, the grilled Fresh Wild Sockeye Salmon with Ripe Peaches, Pesto and Tzatziki we enjoyed last Tuesday (photo above) was made almost exclusively with ingredients from Costco, 2 Teterboro Landing Drive, in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center off Route 46.

Although the first sockeye from the Copper River in Alaska began arriving at the Teterboro warehouse on June 5, I think of wild salmon, Greek yogurt, Basil Pesto and fragrant California peaches as summer foods.

Today, I picked up more fresh wild sockeye for dinner tonight, and noticed that Costco lowered the price to $15.99 a pound from $16.99, compared to $29.99 a pound at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

For tzatziki, I use about 16 ounces of Costco's non-fat Greek Yogurt, which is free of saturated fat; thin it with water to make a thick but flowable mixture, add diced skin-on hothouse cucumbers; plenty of minced garlic, a little sea salt, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, dried dill, and chopped fresh mint and oregano from my garden. 

Low prices, cash back

Another Costco benefit I associate with summer is the 2% Reward Certificate that arrives weeks before my Executive Membership renews on Aug. 1.

My $230.24 rebate check is about double the $120 annual membership fee, up from $110. Gold Star members pay $60, compared to $55 before.

The annual fee went up on June 1 for the first time since 2011.

In February, I received other cash rebates from my Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, totaling about $260.

That was for using the card to purchase gasoline (4% back), restaurant meals and travel (3% back), and items from other stores (1% back).

Here, tzatziki accents Crab Cake Minis from Phillips Seafood Restaurants, and a wild Alaskan Salmon Burger from Trident, two frozen items available at Costco.  My dinner included Costco's Organic Quinoa, prepared with Organic Diced Tomatoes and chopped fresh garlic in an electric cooker, and Costco's Mexican-style Organic Salsa.

Alongside the bounty of fresh wild sockeye, Costco also sells smoked wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon ideal for egg-white omelets, above and below. The fresh wild salmon is expected to be available through early October, but the smoked wild salmon is sold year-round.

Fresh wild salmon and ripe California peaches on my stove-top grill last Tuesday. I use spray oil, and cook the fish 6 to 8 minutes over a medium-high flame, depending on thickness, turning the serving pieces once.

Today, the Teterboro Costco had far more wild salmon than in previous weeks, and moved the trays to a separate refrigerated case.

 The Sasson Report will return soon

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Free organic sweet potatoes at ShopRite; plus, Armenian takeout in Hackensack

SWEET CONFUSION: The ShopRite in Paramus stocks two brands of organic sweet potatoes in 3-pound bags. The Garden Sweet brand, above, rings up at $5.98, compared to $3.99 for the other brand, below. On Thursday in Paramus, only the pricier potatoes were available, but they were placed over the price sign for the cheaper brand.

The cheaper organic sweet potatoes also are sold at the Englewood ShopRite.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Confusing and conflicting price signs at the ShopRite in Paramus had an upside:

On Thursday, I received a 3-pound bag of organic sweet potatoes and a jar of imported pasta sauce for free.  

Normally, the organic sweet potatoes are $5.98, but they were placed on a shelf with a $3.99 price sign for a second organic brand, which was out of stock.

The Botticelli Fra Diavolo Premium Pasta Sauce from Italy was displayed near the liquor section for $1.99 (24-ounce jar).

But the two jars in my cart rang up at $2.99 each, so I was given one for free and the other for $1.99.

BAIT AND SWITCH: In the produce section at the ShopRite, Route 4 and Forest Avenue in Paramus, I found this display of Pearls Colossal Olives for 99 cents a can. But in the olive aisle, the same item was marked 2 for $3, below. The two cans in my cart rang up at 99 cents each.

CONFLICTING SIGNS: In the pasta aisle, Botticelli Premium Pasta Sauce from Italy, with no added sugar, was on sale for $2.99 with a store card, but a display near the supermarket's liquor section had the same bottled sauce for $1.99 each.

HOW SWEET IT IS: I baked the free organic sweet potatoes from ShopRite at 350 degrees until they were soft and their natural sugar oozed out of them.

Armenian takeout

The Armenian food at Lavash City Grill & Bakery in Hackensack is familiar to anyone who has eaten in a Syrian, Turkish or Greek restaurant.

The counter-service restaurant offers home-made "Middle Eastern Cuisine," and pledges everything is made from scratch, including the lavash, an addictive Armenian flat bread.

I stopped there on Thursday afternoon for takeout, including six delicious Grape Leaves stuffed with creamy rice; and sides of 10 Baked Veggies, Kale & Nut Salad and Tabbouleh.

Grape leaves were 50 cents each, and the other dishes were $4 each for small (16 ounces). A small container of  Tzatziki, a yogurt sauce, was $1.50.

I also bought 5 extra-large pieces of preservative-free lavash ($7), a thin, chewy flatbread that is a guilty pleasure for anyone who is on a no-bread, no-pizza diet like me.

Lavash is ideal for wrapping grape leaves and other food, and for scooping up dips. I like to make lavash wraps with Greek yogurt, za'atar thyme mixture and extra-virgin olive oil.

NOT BY BREAD ALONE: At home, my plate of takeout from Lavash City, clockwise from top, included Kale & Nut Salad, Bakes Veggies, Stuffed Grape Leaves with Tzatziki, and Tabbouleh, a salad of finely chopped parsley, scallions, bulgur wheat, tomatoes, mint, olive oil and lemon juice.

If you have a cold ...

I love the food and moderate prices at Lavash City, but the young man who assembled my takeout order was sneezing and said he had a cold.

So, I wondered why he was handling my takeout containers, and filling them with the grape leaves and the other items I ordered, when there were other employees available.

That reminded me of a visit to the Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack, where I placed organic spring mix and two or three other food items on the conveyor belt, and the cashier sneezed all over them.

I asked for a sanitary wipe on the way out and used it on my packages.

Details

Lavash City Grill & Bakery, 331 Main St., Hackensack; 1-201-464-5445. Serves a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Parking lot behind restaurant.

Website: Home-Made Taste from Scratch