Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Here’s some of what Trader Joe’s has to say about this product:

“Each bowl of Trader Joe’s Vegan Pasta Bolognese comes with a bed of toothsome, tube-shaped pasta made from red lentils, which our supplier then tops with a ragu made with tomato, carrot, onion, and garlic, in addition to the previously mentioned mushrooms and wheat protein. All together, they create a supremely satisfying pasta dish that takes only a few minutes in the microwave to heat up, and provides an impressive amount of protein per one-bowl serving.”

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/vegan-pasta-bolognese-bowl-069558

Now while I’m not vegan on occasion I like to try out some vegan Trader Joe’s stuff to review here. I tried TJ’s frozen bowl of “Vegan Pasta Bolognese” which they say is a “meatless, plant based Bolognese style sauce with mushroom and red lentil pasta”. It’s in the Frozen section and its a microwavable dish. I wasn’t expecting this dish to taste like much so I was a little surprised when I found I actually liked it better than I had expected to. For one thing, I usually do not like any non-regular pasta. I once bought TJ’s pasta made from red lentils and didn’t like it at all, I found it gummy and yucky. But the pasta in this “Vegan Bolognese” tasted OK more or less like regular pasta and the texture was fine. The sauce of this vegan “Bolognese” sauce was pretty tasty and did kind of taste like a traditional (meat based) Bolognese. After tasting it by itself I then tried it with grated Parmesan. Yes no longer vegan, still I did find cheese added to the taste, so you’re call there if you are vegan. Overall two of us, not vegetarians, found this pasta bowl quite acceptable and tasty enough for anyone. Meatless Mondays? One bowl has an impressive 30 grams of Protein. It’s $3.49 so a pretty inexpensive lunch or dinner. “Contains Wheat”