This is a brand-new product; Trader Joe's has not yet posted a description of it. $4.99 for a 24-ounce bag.
I liked this a lot more than I expected I would. The cauliflower comes in huge florets that emerge from the oven amazingly tender. The sauce is surprisingly spicy for a TJ's product. As Nina noted, "The Blandification Committee must have been on vacation."
Two quibbles: The packet of sauce contains at least twice as much as needed for the quantity of cauliflower, which just seems wasteful. And the cauliflower pieces themselves come in a plastic bag found within the outer plastic bag, which also seems wasteful.
Will I buy it again?
Enthusiastically. Me likey.
Nina’s View
As Bob was preparing these I asked him to serve the sauce on the side, rather than stirring it in to the whole batch as prescribed by the instructions. I’m very glad that he accommodated me.
If you used the whole bag of sauce, you’d have a sodden, swamped batch of soggy cauliflower and it would taste mostly like pepper and sugar.
I used very little of the sauce, as I found that it tasted weirdly plain: salt, sugar, pepper. For me, it needed some more aromatics—like maybe some citrus notes (lemon juice, lemon oil). Or more garlic. SOMETHING. The pepper was hotter than I expected too.
Having said that, the cauliflower itself is not bad at all, and the breading (definitely NOT tempura, by the way) is nondescript but cooks up nicely. Were I to buy this, I would definitely tinker with the sauce and use it sparingly.
I absolutely love these! I put it on top of TJ's microwaveable brown rice in a bag. Used the bottom oven part of the microwave for the cauliflower. I cooked about 1/3 of the bag at 425 and had to cook it for about 25-30 minutes. I think if you preheat the oven which I couldn't do because I'm at work and people kept coming in needing to use the microwave. But, that's ok they were still crispy on the outside and cooked all the way through. Just keep checking them by stick a fork or sharp object into the center of the largest cauliflower. I warmed up just a bit of the sauce and refroze the remainder. Next time I'll try on the new cauliflower rice from TJ's. A really nice way changeup my diet. For those who complained of mushiness I say just leave in longer until the outside is crispy and your fork comes out nice and hot.
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