Trader Joe’s Citrus Glazed Chicken with Rice and Vegetables

Taste – 8.5/10

This package is divided into separately zip-bagged rice, soy sauce, cashews, and a motley assortment of vegetables and chicken, all of which you elaborately microwave in a coordinated sequence. I threw out the cashews as I despise mixing nuts and rice. You also should only need to use a small fraction of the soy sauce packet unless your palate is so numbened that only a concentrated assault of undiluted sodium can reach it. The final product is actually quite good, if unspectacular. There are almost too many vegetables (carrots, green beans, water chestnuts, red peppers, AND broccoli), and despite being announced in massive font, only a moderate amount of chicken to be found. Keeping in mind this is a frozen item and should be judged as such, it definitely isn’t bad. The chicken retains a good amount of flavor, the vegetables do have some life instead of being flat lifeless soggy bits and pieces, and the rice reheats well.

Value – 7/10

A 20oz package is priced at $3.99 which is acceptable to me given the size and diversity of ingredients. Depending on how much vegetables fill you up this may or may not suffice as a meal on its own.

Nutrition – 9/10

The package contains 2.5 servings, each with 270 calories and 5g fat. The amount of salt listed is also assuming that one uses the entire soy sauce pack, while I imagine omitting the cashews takes out a good chunk of fat and calories also. Any way you slice it, this is a very light dish.

Total – 24.5/30

 

Uncategorized

December 5, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Chicken Caesar Salad

Taste – 7/10

This is essentially one of those salads that somehow works better than the sum of its parts. The good: the included croutons are excellent. The shredded parmesan cheese is fresh, sharp, and flavorful. The chicken, while on the dry side and rather flavorless, at least stays out of the way. The bad: the lettuce is for the most part limp and ragged, yet far too much is included. You’re better off tossing out anywhere from 1/4th to 1/3rd of the lettuce right from the start. It won’t be too hard since most of the lettuce looks like it was picked out of the trash can to begin with.

Value – 6/10

This salad sells for $3.99 which I suppose is acceptable considering the large use of fresh ingredients.

Nutrition – 9/10

This assumes you don’t use the included tub of Caesar dressing, which you shouldn’t, as it A) looks nasty B) is unnecessary, as the croutons and cheese provide more than enough flavor if you take the 5 seconds needed to mix up the salad contents sufficiently, and C) adds an absurd amount of fat and salt. The dressing alone adds 25g of fat.

Total – 22/30

Overall this is actually not a bad salad at all as long as you throw out the dressing and around a quarter to a third of the lettuce.

Deli/Prepared, Lunch

November 23, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Grilled Teriyaki Salmon Bowl

 

Taste – 5.5/10

This rice bowl consists of three main parts: a rather bland and flavorless mix of white rice, edamame, peas, and carrots; an obligatory soy sauce packet with a truckload of salt; and a surprisingly generous amount of salmon, which is actually decently flavored. I chose to omit the soy sauce entirely as (going by the nutrition label for the item as a whole) it would have added a staggering 1200+ mg of sodium. When you get down to it the salmon is actually not bad. The same cannot be said of the rice and vegetables which have virtually no taste to speak of. Thus you are reduced to either drowning the bowl in the included soy sauce, or carefully rationing your salmon to provide some taste to the limp spoonfuls of the other ingredients.

Value – 5/10

This sells for $3.99 which I suppose is still a reasonable price for lunch. However as I am used to spending only $1.50-$2 for lunch (Spoiled?), I was not very pleased with doubling my usual expense and getting half the enjoyment.

Nutrition – 6/10

This is actually not a bad dish at all, provided you don’t use the soy sauce packet. If you do, you’re better off emptying a salt shaker in your mouth. Even for someone who has no problem using soy or hoisin to flavor most cooking, the sheer amount of sodium thrown in by this is excessive. There are plenty of other ways (garlic powder, onions, etc) that additional flavor could have been added to the rice/vegetables without drowning it in salt.

Total – 16.5/30

Deli/Prepared, Lunch

November 18, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Grapes (Red/Green/Organic/Regular)

Reviewed by: Jon Y

Trader Joe’s fresh grapes come in an assortment of varieties: red, green, black, combos, organic, standard, etc. However, since quality of produce has more to do with supplier than store, I feel it makes more sense to lump everything together for a particular fruit/vegetable.

Taste – 8/10

TJ grapes are perfectly competent in their own right, but suffer from two consistent and extremely annoying drawbacks that occur far more often than I would like. The first is product handling. Casual inspection of a grape box often reveals many more crushed, leaking, etc grapes than you would want. This may or may not be the store’s fault but when I see more damaged grapes in a 1-lb box than I see in a 2.5-3lb bag of them at a mainstream supermarket, I’m not a happy camper. The second problem is cleanliness. This occurs rarely with greens, but very often with reds. There is absolutely no excuse for consumers to have to individually wipe and scrub bits of dirt and grime off every single freaking grape before eating them. I’m not preparing a Thanksgiving cornucopia for John Smith and Squanto, I want a snack. I’m not too lazy to wash my own produce but the amount of dirt on grapes I have found is frankly ridiculous. Somebody in the supply chain doesn’t seem to grasp that “organic” doesn’t translate to “unwashed.” These two problems result in 2 points off.

Value – 6/10

Grape prices fluctuate wildly at TJ’s. Greens go anywhere from $3.69 to $2.49 for a 16oz box, while red seems to be more stable. Depending on prices at regular supermarkets, this will represent either a bargain, ripoff, or the same price. The bottom line is that when considering all factors (price per weight, quality of fruit) TJ probably comes out ahead for organics. However, since I actually love my grapes freakishly large and pumped full of gibberellins and growth factors, I find that regular grapes at supermarkets are often superior both in price point and quality.

Nutrition: 9/10

Grapes and grape skins are good for you, everybody knows that.

Total: 22/30, -2 = 20/3o

Decent grapes, usually overpriced if you’re buying regular, a better deal if buying organic.

Fruit

November 8, 2011

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Trader Joe’s The Works Bagels

Reviewed by Jon Y

Taste – 8.5/10

These bagels pack in sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dehydrated onion, and garlic for a product that lives up to the “works” moniker. They toast even at high heat without becoming dried out, stiff, flavorless, or burnt. The onion and sesame seeds come through the strongest. The bagel itself has just the right level of consistency, chewiness, and softness.I find these are best when toasted until well browned around the crust and mantle, then topped with cream cheese.

Value – 9/10

A bag of 6 bagels sells for $2.29, whereas other “premium” bagged bagels such as Finagle A Bagel cost $3.69 or more from supermarkets I go to.

Nutrition – 7.5/10

With everything short of the kitchen sink crammed into these things, they carry a fairly solid load of calories and salt. And obviously those of the low-carbohydrate persuasion will want to stay far away. However, at the end of the day, it’s just a damn bagel.

Total – 25/30

Bread/Bakery

November 8, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Roasted Gorgonzola Crackers

Reviewed by Jon Y

Taste – 6/10

Despite the advertised “Roasted Gorgonzola” flavor, a cursory look at the ingredients reveals that soy sauce, onion powder, and a rather elaborate “Roasted Gorgonzola Seasoning” concoction are the main flavorings in these crackers, not gorgonzola cheese. These crackers are quite salty and the soy sauce flavor noticeably overpowers the other ingredients. It would be more accurate to say they taste like soy sauce crackers smothered in (simulation) cheese powder. For casual snacking this is passable, but if you are looking for actual cheese flavor, go with Cheez-Its.

Value – 8/10

A 10oz box (9 servings of 31 crackers) is $1.99. Nothing to complain about.

Nutrition – 6/10

A serving of 31 crackers contains 140 calories and 5g fat, mostly unsaturated. However, that also comes with a rather sizable 300mg sodium, as you might expect from anything to do with soy sauce. Overall not too bad but you shouldn’t allow yourself to think it’s one of those snacks where the idle hand can be allowed to constantly reach into the box all day.

Total – 20/30

Passable snack and worth a try since it’s so cheap, but nothing special.

Snacks

November 8, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Piled High Apple Pie

Reviewed by Jon Y

Taste – 7.5/10

All in all, this is a well made pie. The crust is soft and buttery without being heavy, while the filling isn’t syrupy or sticky like many other apple pies. The pie physically holds together well, and is certainly large enough to hold its own size-wise. It makes no claims to being gourmet, but it is certainly acceptable.

Cost/Value – 7/10

As this is more of an occasional indulgence rather than a dietary staple (At least one would hope), price is less of an issue. This pie costs $6.99 which is about the same price range as similar items.

Nutrition – 9/10

The main selling point of this pie is that it’s incredibly light. The entire pie only contains 40g of fat, less than half the total fat of the other, “regular” Trader Joe’s apple pie. One could partake in the otherwise unconscionable luxury of eating an entire quarter of the pie at once, and only worry about 10g of fat, the equivalent of a few granola bars.

Total – 23.5/30

An extremely low fat apple pie that also does not disappoint in the taste department.

Bread/Bakery, Indulgences

November 4, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Cranberries

Reviewed by Jon Y.

Taste – 10/10

Quite simply, almost anything is good when covered in dark chocolate. Some things, however, are excellent and these cranberries are an example. The chocolate itself has a rigid, crackling texture akin to that found in freshly made chocolate-covered strawberries. The cranberries are suitably tangy and complement the sweetness of the chocolate well, while acting as a chewy center for each individual morsel. And god help you if you eat a whole handful at once.

Value – 8.5/10

Assuming you have sufficient self control, a single box of these can last quite a while. $3.99 a box is actually a very reasonable price.

Nutrition – 6.5/10

About what you would expect. No low-fat miracles, but nothing disproportionately bad either.

Total – 25/30

One of the ultimate guilty pleasures to be found.

Snacks

November 1, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Chunky Spiced Apples

Reviewed by Jon Y.

Behold for your enjoyment one of the most distinguished items within your neighborhood TJ. It sits quietly on its shelf, calling no attention to itself, contently waiting to be grabbed by your hungry hands and consumed. Whatever genius created this item has my gratitude.

Taste – 9.5/10

This Chunky Spiced Applesauce consists of two components, the applesauce and its chunks. The applesauce itself is perfectly good on its own merits, sweetened via apple juice concentrate and cinnamon. The “chunky” part however is done even better. Most brands of chunky applesauce unfortunately share the same quality of flat, soggy, mushy, undersized apple chunks. This item proudly contains MASSIVE apple chunks, all permeated with the concentrate/cinnamon flavor, and still retaining the excellent apple-chunk consistency usually only found in premium apple pie filling.

Value – 8/10

This sells for $2.99 a jar the last time I checked, with 1/4 to 1/3rd of a jar being more than enough to fulfill a snack craving.

Nutrition – 8/10

This item is of course fat free, and even eating the entire jar would only be 350 calories.

Total – 25.5/30

Excellent as a standalone snack, or combined with sliced banana or dried fruit.

Fruit, Snacks

November 1, 2011

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Trader Joe’s Fried Rice (Vegetable/Chicken)

Reviewed by Jon Y

As far as I can tell, having tried both, the chicken fried rice is identical to its sibling except with a slightly lower density of vegetables, the addition of scrambled egg pieces, and the ample presence of Grade D circus-meat chicken chunks.

Taste – 7/10 (0/10 for chicken chunks)

Trader Joe’s does a good job including a selection of veggies for this item including peas, carrots, onions, and pepper. The dish as a whole is flavorful if somewhat overly salty, but not overpoweringly so. The rice is a little on the oily side but not to the extent that it becomes a noticeable negative. As for the Chicken Fried Rice version, I cannot overstate how abominable the “chicken” chunks are. They are tasteless, rubbery, misshapen debris that seem to have been pulled from the leftovers of Grade F high school cafeteria chicken. The chunks are also bizarrely large for a fried rice dish, which ends up being a blessing because it lets you easily pick them out of the rice before nuking it. Buying the Chicken Fried Rice essentially leaves you with the Vegetable Fried Rice and greasy fingers.

Value – 9/10

Another of TJ’s economical lunch options, both fried rice versions come in a 1lb bag for $2.99. It’s a good value, nothing much else to say.

Nutrition – 6/10

Since you won’t be touching the chicken, both fried rice versions are very low in fat and cholesterol, although there is a good amount of salt due to Trader Joe’s overzealousness in flavoring the rice.

Total – 22/30

If you’re craving cheap, quick fried rice, you can do worse than this.

Frozen, Lunch

November 1, 2011

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