Day 289 - Persimmon Salad

We were heading out to the thea-tuh (that is how fancy people say it) and stopped at Trader Joe’s in Fairfax, VA to get something for dinner on the way.  Sadly, we spent so much time wandering the aisles, tasting pumpkin soup and pumpkin beer and (non pumpkin) wine, that we pulled into the theatre parking lot with enough time to rush to our seats, not to EAT DINNER.  Therefore we did something the fancy people do NOT do – chowed down on a salad with a plastic fork during intermission.  But hey, that’s how we roll.  Deal. 

Oops - caught you eating dinner during intermission.  SO not fancy.

This salad was new to us.  Apparently Trader Joe’s had it last autumn and it was a big hit, so they juuuust brought it back!  I am glad they did, and you should be, too.  It is in the Fearless Flyer this month.

The Fearless Flyer is TJ's newsletter.  I don't really get into it much, which is why I am making this photo small.  :)

This salad is a very nice combination of stuff.  The front of the package boasts this contains butter lettuce, kale, roasted almonds, goat cheese, and a pomegranate dressing.  Of course, as the name suggests it also has PERSIMMONS, which, hello, who buys persimmons??  We do not, but maybe we should!!  They were good in this context for sure.

Even before OPENING this salad I thought it looked good.  I was right.

The nuts and pomegranate seeds come in little plastic sealed cups that you open and dump in.  This keeps them fresh and they do not get mushy, which is cool.  The majority of the salad is butter lettuce and kale.  We normally do not eat raw kale and this salad really made me want to do that more often.  The kale was great!  It tasted “healthy”, if healthy is a taste.    

I think there could be a bit more dressing.  It is a super tasty pomegranate sherry dressing and by the bottom of the salad I was wishing for more.  David agreed about needing a bit more dressing.

See - FEARLESS FLYER item 

David says, “The dressing is great!  The mix of kale and butter lettuce is a nice balance.  The nuts are nice.  And I think it is Roquefort cheese??  It’s nice!  The kale is good because it is the TENDER LEAVES and not so much stalk.  I give this salad a 4.”

I at first thought the cheese in question was FETA, then realized it was chevre (goat cheese).  Well done, Trader Joe’s, well done. 

This salad would be great for lunch.  I give it a 4.5, so will average the two ratings together for the final number. 

Wade through the aisles of pumpkin products and get to the refrigerated section to pick one of these salads up.  It is nice to have an autumn taste other than pumpkin.  (Not that there is anything wrong with pumpkin…)

Price – $3.99

Rating – 4.25