New Things at Trader Joe's
6 February 2012
We've got some new vegan items at Trader Joe's. Want to know what I think of them? Here you go:
Mandarin Orange Chicken (the real stuff) has been one of Trader Joe's best sellers for a long time. And now there's a vegan version. Some of the other vegetarians I work with are really excited about this, and they've eaten for lunch a few times. They love it. I'm not the biggest fan. The chickenless morsels taste like chicken McNuggets to me. So if that's appealing to you, then check it out. Don't get me wrong, I ate the whole thing, but I don't think I'd buy it again. I think it something that would appeal to someone who's gone vegetarian but misses meat and needs something to substitute it. It is, afterall, a fake meat.
I liked this more. It's stickier than you might imagine fried rice to be. I'm a fan of seaweed, but even if you're not the biggest fan, the seaweed is the last ingredient, so it's really not overpowering. I think I could handle more seaweed. In fact, I might wrap them in this:
You can get this without the wasabi flavor as well. I think I might prefer it that way. These are basically seaweed strips like you would use to make sushi.
Here's one more thing I'm excited about. They're kind of like tortilla chips, but they're made with garbanzos and all the spices and such you'd put in falafel. I'm just not real sure what to dip them in. Plain hummus I guess.
Last night I made tabouli, but instead of using bulgur, I used quinoa. I thought it would be better because quinoa is a complete protein. Turns out it's much stickier. I guess the bulgur absorbs more of the oil? Or something. Maybe I should have reduced the oil. It was still quite edible though. Sunny took some to work with her today, and because real falafel would have turned soggy by the time she ate it at work, she took some falafel chips to go with the tabouli.
So if you find yourself in a Trader Joe's in the near future, look for these new items. They should be well stocked because they're in the current Fearless Flyer.
