These are pretty much what you’d expect – pretzel thins covered in a white chocolate-like coating and dipped in crushed peppermint. Fortunately, the peppermint isn’t overwhelming, but these are really sweet. A nice holiday treat, but not one I’ll pine for throughout the year. These pretzel thins look nice enough that I’d put them in […]
Trader Joe’s Extraordinary Bark
An interesting combination of chocolate, caramel corn, pretzels and cookie pieces. Dark chocolate and pretzels keep this bark from being too sweet. Nice packaging and an attractive treat due to a very uniform distribution of toppings and chocolate drizzle. Normally, I’d just randomly break up a candy bark, but this looks so nice that I […]
Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend Complete Salad Kit (vegan)
After years of only the Spinach Cranberry and Caesar Salad kits, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see several new salad kits at my store. I assume this one is a seasonal item so try it while you can. The salad mix consists of baby lettuces, spinach and kale. Use within a couple days of purchase, […]
Trader Joe’s Ricotta & Spinach Tortelloni with Red Pesto
This is one of my favorite Italian-style entrees from Trader Joe’s. The most pleasant and unexpected thing about this entrée is that the sauce isn’t a cooked tomato sauce. Instead it’s mostly halved cherry tomatoes, chunks of zucchini and red pepper, and basil. The result is a fresher taste and firmer texture than most frozen […]
Trader Joe’s Hearty Minestrone Soup (vegan)
There are now 7 fresh soup selections at my Trader Joe’s. These are usually on the top shelf above the grab-and-go salads. Two have meat, but 3 (carrot coconut curry, pea, and vegetable with quinoa and kale) are labeled vegan. The remaining two (lentil and minestrone) appear to be vegan based on the ingredient list. […]
Trader Joe’s Persimmon Salad
The main ingredients in this salad are butter lettuce, kale, goat cheese and persimmons with a pomegranate dressing. I am not a huge persimmon fan, but this salad still worked for me. Trader Joe’s wisely used firm persimmons, but cut them very fine. This results in nice color, crunch and a subtle persimmon flavor that […]
Rice Pilaf with Roasted Vegetables (vegan)
This is a seasonal item that will probably be around through Christmas. Convenient, colorful and tasty. Wild rice gives the dish a nice texture. Nicely seasoned. Usually I need to add salt, pepper and some olive oil to boost flavor, but this works as-is. Add some chopped pecans and dried cranberries to create a festive […]
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Ravioli
One of my favorite restaurant dishes is butternut squash ravioli. I hoped to create something close with Trader Joe’s Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli. I made the mistake of tasting an uncooked ravioli and it was gummy and overly sweet. However, both these issues were addressed with cooking and I was quite pleased with the end […]
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Waffles
At first I was a little disappointed that these waffles don’t have a strong pumpkin flavor. However, after a few days I realized what these waffles don’t have is a strong pumpkin pie spice flavor and I decided I don’t miss that. Instead Trader Joe’s pumpkin waffles have a slightly earthy taste that has inspired […]
Trader Joe’s Jaipur Vegetables
This is my favorite of the shelf-stable Indian Fare offerings. The sauce is rich and flavorful and the cashew pieces are a nice touch. However, the best thing about this dish is the noticeable chunks of vegetables (potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans). Most of the Indian Fare dishes focus on one main ingredient (eggplant, spinach […]