Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend

This is Day Four of New Products Week.


Trader Joe's description of this item can be found here.

Before I bought this, I checked the label for usage suggestions, because on my own, standing in the store, I couldn't think of a single thing I would use this for. The label's first suggestion was to tart up pineapple or jicama. That sounded interesting enough, so I put it in my basket, and also picked up some fresh pineapple on which to try it.

It was a complete fail. The overwhelming flavor that comes from this little bottle is salt. Salt, salt, and more salt. Plus a little lime. Chile? Well, maybe if you stare at the label that promises there are chiles in it, and apply some imagination.

Using the sodium content information on the label, plus some basic math and chemistry, I calculate that this is about 48% salt by weight. Which kinda explains why it's so salty.

That fact suggested that maybe we might better use it in situations where one would ordinarily use plain salt, and see if it worked better there than it did on the pineapple. So the next week I made scrambled eggs the main protein for my weekly dinner with Nina.

This was definitely an improvement--but not enough to want to do it again. With the salt no longer seeming so dominant and out of place, what came through next was the lime. I did not think lime and eggs blended well. And the "heat" promised by the label was still basically AWOL.

A score of zero for two earns this seasoning an unequivocally failing grade, and a trip back to the store for a refund.

For an opinion so contrary that one wonders if we were even trying the same product, see the review by the nice people at the "What's Good at Trader Joe's" blog, here.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Organic Lentil Vegetable Soup

This is Day Three of New Products Week.


This soup is definitely better than its shelfmate, the Organic Split Pea Soup--but that's not saying much. My first impression was "mediocre." On reheating the leftovers, it improved to "pretty decent." But no number of tastings, I think, would ever elevate it beyond that. The soup definitely tastes of lentils, but if any of the other ingredients contribute additional flavors, they were lost on me.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Just Beets

This is Day Two of New Products Week. 


This is a brand-new product. See Trader Joe's introduction to it here. $2.99 for a very small bag. Do not confuse it with this very similarly named item.

As the name says, there's nothing here but dehydrated beets--no oil, no seasonings. TJ's says that the beets are blanched in boiling water just enough to allow the skins to be removed. Other than that, there is no cooking involved.

So you end up with thin chips, approximately the texture of slightly soft potato chips, but tasting exactly like, well, beets. I found it a strange sensory combination, because my brain associates that flavor with the typical firm but not crunchy texture of beets. It's not unpleasant--just unexpected and slightly confusing.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I'm happy to have tried them once, but I think that's enough--especially given the steep price per ounce.

Nina's View

Not a success. Have a beet the way nature intended it, or a fried beet chip instead.

Trader Joe's Organic Split Pea Soup

We've been kind of neglecting the new items lately, so it's time to focus on them with seven reviews in a row. Yes, that means it's another New Products Week! 


This is a brand-new product; no information posted about it on TJ's web site yet. $1.99.

I wish the actual soup looked as good as it does on the package. Instead, it's a monochrome, unappetizing, green glop. It's so thick that it actually comes out of the box as a solid, retaining the shape of its former container until heated.

The taste isn't much better. It's bland, with something weirdly off. If I were fed this without knowing what the main ingredient was, would I correctly identify it as "peas"? I'm not sure--it's a close call.


Will I buy it again? 

No. It is mediocre at best.

Roundup

This is my weekly compilation of news and other links related to Trader Joe's.


The best grocery store for snacks is Trader Joe's

New Trader Joe's products for May

"Deceptive labeling" class-action lawsuit against Trader Joe's dismissed

"Let's Talk TJ's" podcast #24

Trader Joe's is among the retailers making phone-pay systems worse



Best tweets of the week:

1.

2.

And finally, here's this week's cute cat in a Trader Joe's grocery bag:

Trader Joe's Ham & Swiss Sandwich

If you're thinking that this doesn't look like the kind of TJ's purchase I usually make, you're right. It was the result of that familiar problem of grocery shopping while hungry. Had I been thinking more clearly, I would have realized:

• I haven't had ham in maybe a year, and really don't want to start again. 
• It is not possible to assemble a sandwich in a factory kitchen somewhere, wrap it in plastic, ship it to grocery stores, have it sit on the shelves for a day or two, and end up with a sandwich that is "fresh," as the label claims. 

The lettuce was wilted. The dijon mustard, while tasty, had soaked into the bread and was all concentrated right in the middle of the sandwich. The ham was weirdly--almost alarmingly--discolored, an unappealing gray. I know there was a slice of Swiss cheese in there, because I partially disassembled the sandwich looking for it, after discovering that its flavor was completely AWOL.

This sandwich was a colossal failure.


Will I buy it again? 

Only if I lose my ever-lovin' mind.

Trader Joe's Panko Breaded Tilapia Fillets

If like me you don't know what "panko" is, see here.

Nina had me over for dinner and served this. It's among the most pleasant pieces of fish I've ever had--though truth be told, that doesn't encompass a large number of experiences. It's about as mild and non-fishy as I can imagine any fish being. The coating is nice and crunchy.


Will I buy it again? 

Probably not--not because there's anything wrong with it, but because I have never chosen fish over other protein sources, and don't expect to in the future. However, I certainly wouldn't mind having it again. In fact, if somebody put a gun to my head and told me that I had to go to a store and buy fish (other than tuna) and eat it, this would likely be my first choice.

Nina's View

I've now made these a couple more times for myself, and I hereby promote them to Nina's Top Ten status. They are simple to prepare, reliably tasty, and lend themselves to a variety of different serving options.