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

“SPRING MIX, UNEXPECTED CHEDDAR, APPLE CINNAMON CHIPS AND PECANS WITH AN APPLE VINAIGRETTE” (THIS IS SEASONAL)

Some of Trader Joe’s prepared salads are are bit hit or miss. With this (seasonal) Harvest Apple salad however both of us were impressed. We found it quite good, so I’m going with calling this one a HIT.

Trader Joe’s has this around the Holidays like its a bit special, and we thought it was a bit special due to the included additions. Inside with the lettuce are some little plastic bags with dressing and the additions to add, specifically some apple chips, some unexpected grated cheddar and some pecans, all staying crunchy wrapped up. It’s these 3 additions plus the dressing which really made this into something a bit special. So good I can imagine you might think this came out of a special salad place or restaurant kitchen, where they would easily charge you about three times the price of this one which is four dollars.

I found the dried apple crisps were the special component here. I really loved those. The apple chips added a nice texture and taste to the greens for contrast. The pecans were excellent as well. There aren’t a ton of nuts here but as with most TJ’s stuff, just enough. Not a ton of grated unexpected cheddar either but this cheddar does add a nice taste (Next time I would add more, just grate up a hunk of that yummy Unexpected Cheddar )

Dressing: I liked the included “apple vinaigrette” which matches well with all the other ingredients. Additions you could add? This would be even better with a bit of cut up fresh apple. Maybe some dried cranberries?

TJ’s calls this salad “seasonal” meaning you will see it around the Holidays starting pre-Thanksgiving through Xmas or so. Meaning this would be great for some guests/fancy up a dinner and of course all it requires is putting the stuff in a bowl!

In addition to being “just a salad” this would be good for “beefing it up” into something more substantial by topping it with most any protein. Perhaps slices of chicken or steak, or baked tofu for that matter, or additional cheese, if you wanted to make this into a protein with salad thing.

Trader Joe’s HARVEST APPLE SALAD kit, $3.99. I’d say one bag is about enough for about 2 people as part of a dinner. Or one salad lover. Again, add some sliced chicken on top of this and you could make this a nice balanced lunch or dinner.

TIP: with any of these pre-packed salads I always find these soft lettuces go bad pretty quickly, after 2 or 3 days, so use them asap. I always pierce the bags with a knife when I get home to make a few airs holes which I think adds a little more shelf life. Or open bag and put in a paper towel to absorb moisture and stay fresher longer. Also check for any odd bad leaves. One mushy leaf will make them all go bad fast.