Trader Joe's Leafy Greens With Butternut Squash Salad Kit

I was going to say that I found this product to be a mixed bag--but then I realized what a terrible unintentional pun that would be, and I couldn't do it. My policy on terrible puns is that they must be intentional.

Oddly, I liked all the accoutrements here, but not so much the main salad itself. The latter was too much lawn-clipping for me. The add-ins, though, were nice. I was surprised that I liked the slices of butternut squash, which I had anticipated would taste out of place.

The dressing--"white balsamic vinaigrette"--immediately struck me as much too sweet, but by my second serving of salad, I had grown rather fond of it. Trader Joe's bagged salad kits have had a not-great record with their included dressings, but this one is a winner. I wish they'd sell it separately.


Will I buy it again? 

No. I'll stick to my usual mix and dressings.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butternut Squash Bisque

Not a winner. It's pretty thick, basically just a slightly watered-down puree of pumpkin and squash, with some peppers and other spices thrown in, plus some sweetness, presumably from the honey they've added. I ate my half with dinner last night, but I wasn't thrilled about it. Nina ate only a few spoonfuls of her half before rejecting the rest. No specific criticisms--just didn't like it.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

We have a split decision on this.

I didn't care for it much. I did like the unusually shaped pasta, but I thought the flavor was too heavily influenced by the squash, which isn't my favorite thing.

Nina, though, loved it. She thought the squash flavor was mild and a nice accent to plain pasta.

The package claims that this serves two. That's a stretch. I think I could have eaten the whole thing by myself.


Will I buy it again? 

No.

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash, Beet & Goat Cheese Ravioli

New Trader Joe's item. See the company's description of it (and a much better photo than mine) here.

I bought this package not only because it's new and I feel an obligation to report on it, but because it's attractive and intriguing. Who puts squash, beets, and goat cheese into ravioli???

The flavors of the first two components are surprisingly subdued, to the point that I found it hard to taste anything except the pasta shell and the cheese, unless I really concentrated. But that worked for me, since I like cheese a lot more than I like either squash or beets. Physically, they held together pretty well, with only one piece splitting open in the pot of boiling water.

We had them with just butter. The package recommends olive oil. A traditional pasta sauce would probably extinguish any chance of tasting the individual ingredients.


Will I buy it again? 

Yes. I probably wouldn't just for myself, but Nina liked them, so I think they'll make a nice occasional part of dinner when I cook for her.

Nina's View

I think this was a really canny bit of recipe-jiggering. The sweetness of the butternut squash is perfectly balanced by the earthiness of the beets, and the cheese makes a nice third note. No fireworks in the mouth, but definitely in the comfort-food realm. The aesthetics of the ravioli are quite lovely.

A nice brown-butter or sage butter or herbed butter or lemon butter sauce would be best here—something savory to contrast with the little bit of sweetness.

Another interesting twist would be to try deep-frying them. They might make really tasty appetizers that way.

Recommended. Of course I'm not buying for myself because: cheese. 

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Parmigiana With An Amaretti Crunch

This is the second of ten consecutive days of reviews of the things Nina and I tried at our all-Trader-Joe's Thanksgiving meal. 


I had never noticed this item in the store, but a couple of weeks ago my friend Jessica Welman gave me a heads-up that I should try it, so I decided to include it in our Thanksgiving feast.

I'm glad I did. I'm kind of so-so on squash generally, but it turns out that if you add cheese and a sweet/nutty crunchy topping, it's great! I definitely liked it better than the butternut squash and spinach gratin that we had a week or so ago.

Once again, Trader Joe's cook times are on the low side. I gave it 5 minutes more in the oven than recommended, and it still wasn't hot and needed some last-minute microwaving before serving.

Will I buy it again? 

Yes. It's an excellent side dish to the fake-turkey roast reviewed yesterday.

Nina's View

There were a couple of mild annoyances with this dish. It had frozen in a sloshed position, so the cookie crumble topping was unevenly distributed. It needed extra heating (I'm not sure the TJ's timing is to blame here. Bob's oven was filled with stuff, and this was crammed up against other dishes. That means it probably didn't get the proper air circulation for heating through), but it had dried out in the oven, so it was a little chewer/tougher than it ought to be. The flavors were nice. 

Due to cheese content, I won't be buying this, but it was a nice side dish for our meal.

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash & Creamed Spinach Gratin

This is another in an array of prepared side dishes that Trader Joe's releases this time of year to make holiday feast preparation easy. Nina bought it and served it as part of our dinner a few days ago.

For me, squash and spinach are both in the "I'll eat it, but I won't ever really like it" category. This prejudice makes me a less-than-ideal reviewer here. But with that caveat, I'll say that this combination was among the better ways to dress them up that I've encountered.

Will I buy it again? 

No. But I won't balk at eating it again if it's on the menu.

Nina's View

Ah the blandishments of the tasting station at Trader Joe's… I would never have bought this were it not for that little paper cup with a forkful of this in it FOR FREE. I have a life-long struggle with the idea of rejecting free food. Not gonna do it (except for the meat stuff and those few things I'm actually allergic to).

So, yeah, this has cheese in it, and I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, except: FREEEEEEEEE taste!

I tasted and it was tasty. I thought Bob might like it, and was pleased to find that it fell into the non-icky category for him.

The end of the story is not so happy, however. My first bite, at TJ's was "Oh, yum!" My next serving, at home was: "Yeah, this all right." My third serving, of leftovers, was "Yeah, not so much." I don't think this was because it had somehow degraded from sitting in my fridge for a day. I think the product's weaknesses just became more and more evident.

My biggest objection is to the thin-sliced treatment of the squash. It would be better as a puree. Maybe. Or little tiny diced chunks. Whatever, the texture (they're going for a 'lasagna' type presentation) is just not right. And the flavors never really meld as much as they should.

So, even if it didn't have dairy in it, I wouldn't be buying it again. But *you* might like it.