Trader Joe's Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini Melange

Purchasing this was really pushing the edge of my vegetable tolerance. I can put up with zucchini if I have to, though I'd be happier if it just disappeared from the planet so that I never encountered it. And eggplant? Well, I've never had it before, because it's in that category of things that are so obviously icky that why would I?

But I have a vegetable-loving girlfriend to feed, and a daily blog to write, so one must take some chances. Sometimes I try something new and I'm pleasantly surprised--like discovering the wonderful world of hummus. Other times, my prejudices are confirmed. As, for example, here.

Both the eggplant and zucchini pieces were kind of tough and stringy while somehow also managing to be slimy. That is not a winning combination of adjectives. In case it matters to you, this dish is also not vegan-friendly, with little globs of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Other opinions 

What's Good at Trader Joe's blog: "All in all, this dish is better than zucchini or eggplant served plain by themselves. There's a tomatoey sort of sauce and some bits of mozzarella (which I didn't even notice while eating the dish, to be honest with you) and some bits of tomato...and maybe some other mysterious things...It tasted like what you'd expect. It's stewed vegetables in a sauce. Not bad at all. My only complaints are that the pieces of eggplant were too big, and they were a little chewy. I think eggplant has an underrated taste, but it really has to be cooked a certain way or chopped up into tiny little bits and pieces for the texture not to ruin the experience."

Eating at Joe's blog: "Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not a big fan of melanges in general.... Nevertheless, Trader Joe’s Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Melange is a credit to the name – a tasty, tangy, cheesy mixture of two of the vegetable world’s least celebrated members.... Eggplant and zucchini, despite their frumpy reputations, actually serve very well in this dish. Both veggies have a mild taste that complement each other and the sauce they come in, while providing enough heft to make for a satisfying mouthful. That said, nothing is done to ameliorate the texture of the large, floppy eggplant slices, which remain, as ever, a bit mealy and soggy."

Will I buy it again? 

Not in this lifetime. 

Nina's View

Oh dear. This was just really NOT GOOD. I can only hope that Bob will be able to blank out his memory of this experience on the day when *I* get around to serving him something with eggplant in it.

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of Trader Joe's news and other links from the week.


How do I love thee, Trader Joe's? 

Trader Joe's shopping guide for the paleo diet 

Life hack: How to reuse your Trader Joe's spice grinder 

Beetles found in packaged salads (ew!) 

Trader Joe's chocolate peanut butter cupcakes 

Is everything better with Trader Joe's cookie butter on it? (funny video)

Is Aldi a better place to shop than Trader Joe's? 

10 snacks Trader Joe's must never discontinue 

America's most tasteful $2 buzz (review of several Trader Joe's beers)


I was greatly shocked this week to learn that there is another Trader Joe's blog out there that I had somehow never run across before. I thought I knew about all of them. Take a peek in on Samantha's reviews of TJ's products: http://mantoujoe.blogspot.com/

Another special announcement: The good folks (all four of them) at the "What's Good at Trader Joe's" blog have started a podcast to discuss TJ's food. First episode is here.


Best tweets of the week:

#1:

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#4:

#5:

Finally, this week's picture of a cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag is Monkey, whose mom hangs out in the Trader Joe's fan page on Facebook:

Trader Joe's Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips

It's another brand-new Trader Joe's item! They have really been rolling them out rapidly lately. We've featured eight in the last 12 days.

This one I have known was coming for a couple of months. That's because I caught TJ's announcement that they were retiring the most excellent Sweet Potato Tortilla Chip Rounds for a similar but allegedly better product. The old ones are now gone, and the new ones are on the shelves in their place.

I am here to testify that they are not an improvement. They are not nearly as good. They're good, and I'll keep buying them, but every time I do I will curse the TJ's executives who made this decision.

Both versions are made from a blend of corn and sweet potato flours, but I thought the old version was much more weighted toward sweet potato flavor, while the new ones can best be described as "corn, with a little sweet potato if you pay attention."

Both versions are fried, but it shows much more in the new ones. They show their oil more. Is this because they're thinner? I don't know. Maybe. But I preferred the old style, with thicker chips that were sufficiently drained of oil that one could almost fool oneself into thinking they were baked. I also just generally prefer round chips to triangular ones.

In short, all the characteristics that made me love, love, love the old ones have been changed--for the worse. Despite that, they're still pretty good, and among the better tortilla chips that TJ's sells. I'm sure I would like them a lot more than I do if the predecessor product had never shown me how good sweet potato tortilla chips can be. *snif*

Will I buy it again? 

Yes, but with mourning for what has been lost.

Nina's View

Everything about Bob's assessment of these chips is correct  except the issue of sweet-potatoeyness. These have more sweet potato and less corn flavor. I preferred the previous balance, in part because it was—say it with me, folks—a tad less sweet. 

The big fail here is the fragile super-oiliness of these chips. 

They're still edible, for sure. But I, too, liked the old version much better. 

Trader Joe's Grilled Cauliflower

A big sign in the Asheville Trader Joe's the other day called my attention to this brand-new item. The only information available online about it so far is on TJ's own web site, here.

As you can infer from the name and photo, they have done the grilling for you. All you have to do is heat it up. The package says 13-15 minutes at 400 degree. For once, I think I'd stick with that, even though the instructions invite you to go longer if you want more of a grilled character to the cauliflower. That would probably be fine for the larger pieces. However, there are many tiny pieces that I think would be charred inedible if left in any longer.

I liked the flavor. You can definitely taste the smoky grilled flavor. The cauliflower is left unseasoned, which in this case I think is the right choice; let users decide for themselves whether to add salt, butter, hot sauce, etc.

Will I buy it again? 

Yep. I liked it. I eat a lot of cauliflower, and this made for a nice change, with almost no effort.

Nina's View

Meh. This did nothing special for me. I like oven-roasted cauliflower, but I generally add a little oil and look for some carmelization to boost flavor, and some crispness for texture interest. 

These just had char, and not very flavorful char, imo. The cauliflower itself was still bland and watery-tasting. 

I would not push my cart to the other side of the aisle for this bag of vegetables. 

Trader Joe's Handcrafted Beef Tamales Wrapped In Corn Husks

These are pretty good, though a long way short of outstanding. They're also a decent value, at $2.29 for two, with each one making a good centerpiece of a meal. As with most Trader Joe's products--and it seems especially their Mexican foods--they are unnecessarily toned down by the Blandification Committee, though not quite as much as some other items I've tried. They are admirably beefy, and the shredded beef is flavorful and easily the best part of the tamale.

Preparation is not quite as simple as one typically expects for frozen foods. The directions give you the choice between steaming in a microwave oven (after wrapping the product in a wet paper towel) or using some sort of steamer. Since my rice cooker has a steamer attachment, that's what I did. The first one came out perfectly, though I left it in for 30 minutes instead of the recommended 20-25. The second time around, I stopped it at 25 minutes, and the center was still only about room temperature, so I'd recommended going long on the timing.

Will I buy it again? 

Probably not. I'm becoming ever more convinced that beef is a problematic food, and that there are sufficient reasons to shift one's consumption toward some combination of poultry and plant-based meat substitutes. These were okay, but not so compelling that I'd want to use up my shrinking, self-imposed beef rations this way.

Trader Joe's Organic Pea Soup

This is the third item I've reviewed in Trader Joe's line of refrigerated soup. First there was the organic vegetable soup with quinoa and kale, then the organic roasted tomatillo gazpacho.

This struck me as pretty generic pea soup. Perfectly edible, nothing wrong with it, but no better than if it came from a can at WalMart. The TJ's Blandification Committee has thrashed this into nearly lethal boringness. At $3.99 for what amounted to only two servings, it ought to be a damn sight better than that.

Sure, you could improve it by adding some salt and hot sauce, maybe sprinkling some sort of potent shredded cheese on top, etc. But (1) that's true of the cheapest canned pea soup, too, and (2) why don't Trader Joe's cooks take care of that for you?

Will I buy it again? 

I can't think of a reason that I would. However if offered a free tub of any of the three products in this line of TJ's soups, I'd pick this one.

Dinner

Yep, it was another nearly 100% Trader Joe's dinner with Nina tonight.

We started with TJ's Organic Hummus and TJ's brand-new Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips (not shown). Main course was fake chicken strips called (weirdly) "The Prepper," made by a local company, "No Evil Foods." I marinated that overnight in TJ's Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce, then simmered it in the same until the sauce thickened quite a bit. It's served over a bed of TJ's Basmati Rice Medley. (In the photo I admit that it looks disgustingly inedible. But it wasn't! It was actually a nice dark green.)

On the side is another brand-new product, TJ's Grilled Cauliflower. The juice is TJ's Low Calorie Cranberry Juice Cocktail. The salad is a mix of TJ's Organic Baby Spinach and TJ's Champs Elysee, with TJ's Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing.

Dessert was TJ's Rainier Cherries (which I think are only briefly available, and they're excellent, so grab some while you can).

I liked every bit of these things.