Day 308 - Masala Simmer Sauce

David was the more gentle reviewer of this Masala Simmer Sauce.  He said:  Mild.  Very SAUCY, which is good.  But I would prefer a more creamy or more spicy or more herby sauce instead of the tomato.  I’m a little “tomato sauced out”.  But I think it is a nicely balanced sauce and it is a quick, easy way to throw some chicken and vegetables together and get a very nice thing to put over rice.

 Susan – I think what you would actually prefer, David, is a sauce that had a TASTE to it.  This one was extremely boring and very disappointing.  There was really no flavor to it – just a color – RED.  It was RED flavored, and to me, a color is not a flavor (except in Gummy Bears).  We added salt and pepper after it was plated, those were required to give it any taste whatsoever.  The vegetables we cooked in it and the chicken were good – we put in chicken, onions, celery, mushrooms, and green pepper.  Those all tasted good, but the sauce itself was really a disappointment and I would not buy this one again.

Here is what it looked like on a plate.  Trust me, it looks more flavorful than it tasted. We served it over rice

This is really not worth buying or cooking.  I think this dinner would have been better if we just cooked all of the other ingredients in olive oil and skipped the sauce all together.  Even DAVID, who adores sauce, said this was pretty tasteless and he would have preferred something else. 

David was leery about this one when we bought it.

 Price – $2.49

Rating – 2.75

Day 221 - Vegetable Panang Curry

When I was a kid, sometimes we got lucky and were served a TV dinner for supper.  Now that I am an adult, I realize those nights were probably times my mom was exhausted and not in the mood to cook meat loaf or cheesey chicken (which was her specialty).  But at the time, it felt a bit like hitting the jack pot to get that metal tray, piping hot, placed in front of me.  Oh that metal tray…  With the separate areas for the turkey with gravy and piping hot mashed “potatoes”.  Ahhhh…  Fancy!

Now I am an adult.  At least age-wise I am an adult.  And I do not find instant potatoes with a thin layer of crust on the top appealing anymore. 

BUT I HAVE FOUND A TV DINNER REPLACEMENT.  Trader Joe’s has an amazing assortment of frozen foods.  You could spend an hour just strolling down the frozen section, filling your cart with boxes and bags.  And one box you should put in that cart is VEGETABLE PANANG CURRY with Jasmine Rice.  It’s great!

Put this box in your shopping cart, stat!

It takes a total of 4 minutes in the microwave to cook (as opposed to God knows how long my mom had to leave our TV dinners in the oven way back in prehistoric before microwave times…).  The box has one serving so it was perfect when I gobbled it up just now for a very late 5:15 PM lunch. 

The Jasmine Rice is wonderful.  It is steamy, fluffy, with just the right amount of “stick”.  Veggies include zucchini, onion, asparagus, kale, green beans, snow peas, baby corn, and spinach.  See – it’s a far cry from the watery fake potatoes in the TV dinners of my youth!  And the curry sauce is fantastic.  The only bit of negativity is that the asparagus in this dish is sometimes “woody”. 

Here it is on a plate - I was a bit messy when I dumped it out cuz I was starving

Overall this is a terrific saucy, ricey dish and should be eaten by YOU (unless you are not a fan of slightly spicy stuff, then skip this and eat something boring).

Note – this is VEGAN, so if that’s your thing they gotcha covered.

Price – $2.69 (I think…)

Rating – 4.75

Day 205 - Kale and Cauliflower Curry Salad

I picked this one up because sometimes, when I know I am going to have a challenging work day, I squirrel away a tasty Trader Joe’s salad to have as a mid-day treat.  I was happy when I sat down for lunch today with my CNN on, an ice cold San Pellegrino Limonata in front of me (reviewed on day 141 of this blog – one of the most frequently read reviews, probably because of the shopping comparison “event” that happened at WalMart…), a fresh sliced tomato from our garden, and THIS KALE AND CAULIFLOWER CURRY SALAD.

Healthy lunch!

 The first thing I thought when I opened the container was, “Would it have killed them to cut the cauliflower florets up a little bit more??”.  They were some very large cauliflower hunks, I’m tellin’ ya.  Because of that, I recommend having a knife with you when you eat this salad.

Maybe the cauliflower hunks don't look huge here, but in real life they did.

The kale in it was quite good.  And there was a big surprise!  At least to me, who had not read the ingredient list but only the name of the product, it was a surprise.  Not only does this salad contain kale, curry, and cauliflower, it has WHEATBERRIES hidden on the bottom.  SURPRISE!  And then there was a single plump golden raisin, too.  (I could have done without that, but I can hardly complain when there was only one of them…)

The package says the recommended serving size is half a package – oops, didn’t read that until after I had devoured the whole thing.  It didn’t seem extravagant or piggish to eat it all, so if you are having it for a meal and not an appetizer then I think the recommended serving size is a bit off. 

See?  The wheatberries are not mentioned.  Shhh - they are a secret!

Taste wise it was good.  The kale was the best part, followed by the wheatberries.  I added a bit of freshly ground pepper and that was it.  It is not a strong curry flavor but the curry does add a nice touch.

Overall, it is a fine salad.  Not my very favorite from TJ’s but certainly not the worst.  J

Price – $3.99

Rating - 4

Day 169 - Chicken Balti Pies

Chicken WHAT?

That was our first response, and maybe yours too, to see the name of this frozen product.  Being a resident of the Washington DC area, what I thought of was BALTI-MORE, however, it turns that is not what these are named after J.  The box tells us that BALTI is a traditional curry.  Because it is a CURRY, I mistakenly thought INDIAN.  But if you read the fine (pretty font) print on the side of the box you will learn that this was actually inspired by the “savory pies of the United Kingdom”.

Frozen food section - don't they look yummy?  Looks are not deceiving in this case!

Whew, glad I didn’t read that BEFORE we bought these!  Not sure I would have put them in our cart!  David lived in London for a long time and when we go back and visit I am amazed that a region can have such blaaaaaaaaand food. 

Not these Chicken Balti Pies, ain’t nuttin’ bland about ‘em!  They are really good! 

First off, they are not like Chicken POT Pies.  They are much thicker and sturdier than a chicken pot pie.  They do not need a little tin to hold them – they are hefty enough to stand on their own.  The crust is really nice!  Inside is curry, carrots, gold potatoes, and chicken.  We were afraid they might be very dry inside but they are not, the curry was just right.  Yum! 

We heated both up (mostly via the microwave because we didn’t even start prepping dinner until after 11 pm and we were not patient enough to wait an hour for the oven method).  The nutrition facts on the box say 1 pie per person, but I only ate half of mine (and the baby bok choy we served with it (reviewed on day 38 of this blog). 

All descriptions on this sign are correct.  These are, as the sign says, a delight!

These are a new product at Trader Joe’s and I hope they continue to carry them.  Get some and try them!  And if you want to learn more about BALTI, here is a link (though Wikipedia is hesitant about the validity of some of the info):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balti_(food)

Price - $5.99 (so 3 bucks per pie)

Rating – 4.25

Day 135 - Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce

Can you say, “Really tasty, healthy dinner that is easy to cook”??  If so, then you should try this Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce!  We had it for dinner last night and it was excellent.

This is the jar you want to get

Here is how we prepared dinner with it: 

1.        Sliced up some mushrooms

2.       Sliced some green pepper

3.       Sliced some onion

4.       Sautéed those

5.       Sliced some thin chicken breasts

6.       Sautéed that

7.       Poured some of the curry simmer sauce on the chicken, let it heat up

8.       Added the veggies into the pan

9.       Simmer, sauté, simmer

10.   Served over rice (also from Trader Joe’s, review to come soon)

We added a side of snow peas (which matched our plates!)

See how easy?  And healthy?  I know, you can’t see how YUMMY it was, but you should make some yourself to experience that.  The sauce is really tasty but not super spicy.  All we added was freshly ground salt and pepper!  And the price is really good, too, the nutritional info label says it is 6 servings and that seems about right for what we ate last night.

The sign says it is complicated to make, but TJ's has taken all the complication out of it for you!

I am looking forward to dinner tonight, because I know it is going to be leftovers of this stuff! 

Price – $2.49

Rating – 4.75

Day 124 - Blister Peanuts

Let me first say that I think the name of this product is funny.  And let me also say that I am not above taking off the “pea” and just calling them “blister nuts” then giggling over the double meaning of that. 

Anyway, we saw these at the LaJolla, CA Trader Joe’s and had never noticed them at our local store before so picked up a bag.  David, a big fan of various nuts, was quite excited about the find (as you see here).

David loves NUTS (actually, he pretty much loves SNACKS...)

Turns out these are called BLISTER PEANUTS because a long time ago people soaked peanuts in water to remove the red skins before they roasted them, and that made them blister as they were roasted.  The THINGS you can learn from reading packages!  This roasting process makes them really CRUNCHY.

We liked these.  They are good to eat on their own as a snack (pair with Pepsi), and David also jazzed up a recent chicken curry by putting some on top.  They are a good amount of salty – enough to taste good but not so much you get super thirsty. 

Old fashioned looking bag for an old fashioned method of roasting nuts

If you like a good peanut you should give these a try.  David says, “Those peanuts should get extra marks, cuz Trader Joe’s is trying to find something new and different,” (which I think is funny because the concept of blister peanuts is I guess very old).

Price – $2.69

Rating - 4