My wife thinks anything “organic” tastes better, while I think some things marked “organic” do, but some things don’t taste any better. This is one of those cases where yes ORGANIC is in fact better. Or should I just say that TJ’s Organic Ketchup is a great tasting ketchup, period, and possibly “the best” I’ve had. Now like most Americans Ketchup has always meant “Heinz” as I’ve been eating Heinz ketchup since well, forever, and it was probably the first ketchup I ever had in my life. When my wife brought home the Trader Joe’s organic ketchup and I tasted it (with doubts) my tastebuds did somehow react with something like, “wow, now this is ketchup”! I was pleasantly surprised and I had to admit to my wife yes this organic version was better tasting. She gave me a “I told you so” looks. Now I know Heinz switched from using sugar in their ketchup recipe to using high fructose corn syrup in their (regular) ketchup years ago, like most companies, as sugar is more expensive than corn syrup. Heinz has now come out with another version, a more expensive Heinz ketchup they call “Simply Heinz” (hah!) which does use sugar not corn syrup and the ingredients look more or less similar to Trader Joe’s. However for one thing all of Trader Joe’s ingredients say Organic. Interestingly also is the fact that TJ’s ketchup spells out the actual spices in their ingredients while Heinz just lists the generic word “spice” (why singular, not “spices”?!) TJ’s ketchups says organic spices than spells out: allspice, clove, red pepper, paprika and salt. Frankly I had no idea what specific spices were in ketchup, so maybe it’s the spices at least in part that makes TJ’s ketchup taste so good. In short, in our house we have switched brands to now buying only TJ’s ketchup. Sorry Heinz. This is better. And probably cheaper than Simply Heinz. TJ’s ketchup is $1.99 (24 oz) and for “certified organic” that’s not bad.
So if you’ve never tried TJ’s Organic Ketchup it is well worth giving a try. You just might switch brands too.
TIP: Want some Spicy Ketchup? I just mix this with as much or as little Sriracha as your taste buds are in the mood for. So good! Especially with burgers….
Tzatziki is a delicious creamy Greek sauce traditionally made with Greek yogurt, cucumbers, lemon, and a ton of garlic. Unless you are lucky enough to have a Greek Yaya (Grandma) who makes homemade Tzatziki for you to take home, Trader Joe’s version is perhaps the next best thing. TJ’s version is quite good. I tried it and would buy it again. Tzatziki is a great sauce to have when you make chicken Shawarma .
It’s good with most anything grilled it would be great served even with grilled veggies. It can be served as a dip or can even be used as a salad dressing with some more lemon and olive oil. TJ’s Tzatziki has the first ingredient listed as cucumber, and you can really see this even in the pictures here. This gives it a very little crunchiness. TJ’s version next lists kefir cheese and sour cream (maybe instead of yogurt?) A bit different than if you made it yourself. I does have a bit of dill which I like. I got it for when I was thinking of making Shawarma which I served on top of TJ’s Garlic Naan and it was the perfect sauce for that. Its $3.49 for a 12 oz container.
Want to make Tzatziki yourself? Here’s a link to recipe if you want to try your hand
Wow is this good. Its my new favorite spice! Another delicious find I recently discovered in my TJ’s NEW PRODUCTS section. Frankly I had never heard of Ajika before seeing this. Googling it you learn Ajika is actually not a dry spice blend but is wet; more like a dip so one can assume this TJ spice seasoning blend is a dry seasoning based on the typical Georgian-Abkhaz (formerly USSR) condiment. Anyway this Ajika seasoning is just pretty amazing and a terrific addition to all of their “international spice blends” that TJ’s seems very good at coming up with.
The Ajika Georgian Seasoning Blend contains ground red chili peppers (not a super hot variety), ground coriander, fenugreek, dried garlic, marigold (marigold?! yes the flower dried and ground up!) plus a little salt. Garlicky, (mildly) spicy it is more flavorful spicy than hot spicy. The coriander and fenugreek are stand out delicious flavorings that are not typical for our (American) palates. Honestly the combination of all of these spices together is seriously delicious, I couldn’t stop sprinkling it on so many foods, to see what it would do to them. It tastes quite unique to my taste buds. Is it the Fenugreek? Is it the marigold (which by the way I learn is very typical of Georgian Abkhaz cuisine).
It’s a combination of all of these things. I had made some sautéed yellow peppers and zucchini cooked in olive oil so then I put a good amount of this Ajika spice blend into it. It added wonderful flavor to the grilled veggies. I also sprinkled Ajika on top of a bagel with tomato and cream cheese and again it added great flavors. I tried in on cottage cheese, so boring right? Not with a good amount of Ajika, boring no more they went perfectly together.
Its so good you begin to wonder, what is this NOT good on? I put it on grilled boneless chicken breasts, and yes its an excellent seasoning for chicken…. or pork or steak or fish. Try this Ajika blend sprinkled on eggs or in an omelet. Try also on : Fish, shrimp, turkey, chicken, steak, hamburger, or grilled tofu for that matter. A turkey burger with a good amount of this spice is flavorful and not boring. I think it would be good with SO many things. Grilled vegetables and EVOO plus this are great. This was made for tomatoes which the original has. Mix some of this up with greek yogurt for a lovely easy sauce. You can go nuts with this. I know I am. The internet apparently is going crazy for this too. I was Wowed upon first tasting this. Yes its so good as people are saying. On a 1-10 level of heat I would put this at maybe 4, So barely spicy, very tolerable, especially mixed with foods.
If you see Ajika grab a jar to try. It may be seasonal or TJ simply testing the waters for interest. If you try this you may love it as much as I am loving it (along with the whole internet) and if you come up with some interesting ideas and/or uses for it, or some recipes, please post it in the Comments section. Oh BTW the word “Ajika” may come from the Abkhaz word for salt.
Aha Wikipedia states: “A dry form of ajika exists that is sometimes called svanuri marili in Georgian”
This may seem ho-hum because we are so used to seeing it by now but come on, let’s admit the spices TJ sells in built-in grinders are one of the greatest product innovations in history. I’m serious. Since all spices taste best freshly ground, it’s a huge plus that you can buy not just whole peppercorns but a number of spices & spice blends in these plastic grinders at TJs. I particularly am fond of TJ’s RAINBOW PEPPERCORNS. It’s especially nice as it’s a blend of 3 peppercorns from 3 different continents! They come from Brazil, India and Malaysia. Packed in South Africa. Wow. Peppercorns have gone up in price and I think this used to sell for $1.99, it’s now $2.29. Its the same price as a tin TJ sells of ground pepper so I would say this is better. I buy pepper grinders in pairs, one for the kitchen and one for the table.
Trader Joe’s CRISPY COOKIES filled with Belgian chocolate
RAVE
There are my new favorite cookies. They are just delicious, and frankly very addictive. I can tell you the whole box went quite fast chez nous ! Well, they are small and there are only 18 in a box. Though TJ’s CRISPY COOKIES cookies don’t have butter listed in the ingredients they taste very good and are delicious due to the fact they are so loaded with a thick layer of nice Belgian chocolate in the middle. The outside cookie complements the chocolate well and as you can see, the chocolate layer is as thick as the cookie. These cost $2.49 a box. I may have to buy 2 boxes at a time in future.
Trader Joe’s JUST BEETS 100% juice plus a splash of lemon
“Naturally sweetened with a subtle earthiness” As the name says this is “100% pure beet juice pressed from whole beets (with just a hint of lemon from concentrate)”. Trader Joe’s carries this in the refrigerated drinks section, so it’s fresh. Kind of what you might get if you went into one of those fancy juice bars except this was not made right in front of you by a cool tattooed up Juice Guy with a goatee throwing beets into a juicer who charges you seven bucks plus a tip. Still I think this tastes fresh enough so that if you shook it up hard, put it in a carryout cup with a cover, told me you just bought this from a cool tattooed juice guy I would probably have no reason to think otherwise 😉 Though it has a pretty long “good by” date, I think it tastes best within 3-5 days after you open the bottle so I drink it within a few days. Personally I would not down the whole bottle in one sitting. I have a nice big shot glass of this every day (3-4 oz?). The label states 80 calories in 8 oz. You get 20 oz for $3.99 which is probably less than that fancy juice bar would charge.
I love beets. I like this juice. It’s healthy and good for you, and drinking this every day can help lower your blood pressure! Just remember later in the bathroom to relax and think “Oh yeah I had those beets today.” You know what I mean, you are OK and not peeing blood. Beets do that to you.
RAVE
Update (Summer 2022) Unfortunately this seems to have been discontinued. If one reason you bought the beet juice was to control blood pressure as I did here’s a useful tip for a substitute : drink 3 cups of HIBISCUS TEA daily. I do. I like this brand I get on Amazon https://amzn.to/3CLECHc
Hibiscus is known to be a natural safe product that reduces blood pressure. Fact Google it.
These are one of my favorite crackers TJ sells. Don’t be scared off trying these if you don’t get along with spicy, they have just a bare hint of spiciness. In fact these are delicious all around crackers. The are equally delicious on their own or with soup and especially are great and compliment anything you put on them: cheese, smoked fish, ham, salumi, any kind of dip, guac… They make an excellent base for hors d’oeuvres and would be great to add to a cheese or charcuterie board. They are even tasty all by themselves. Try some softened cream cheese and smoked salmon on these for a heavenly combo. A package is $1.99. Here’s what TJ has to say about them:
These crackers are simply delicious and dare I say, quite addictive. At least for me. I have trouble stopping myself from devouring a whole box. TIP: you might want to get 2 boxes. Or even 3. Because that box you think you will keep in the pantry just in case “For Company” will get eaten. By you
I am crazy for most any smoked fish. Some nice smoked salmon on a bagel with a shmear of cream cheese is my idea of Heaven, or at least a heavenly Sunday breakfast. I also love Ahi Tuna, so when I saw this new product, Smoked Ahi Tuna it immediately said to me, “give this a try”.
TJ’s Sesame Crusted Smoked Ahi Tuna is very, very lightly smoked. As in barely smoked. Unlike most smoked salmon, where you open up the package and really get a smoked fish aroma this is so light that its a mere hint. So to be honest, while I found TJ’s smoked ahi tuna to be kind of tasty it’s not anything like smoked salmon or most any smoked fish I’ve had. Maybe people who don’t love smoked fish might like this as it’s not strong, its light. It has a light pink color and looks rather pretty. There are some white thread-like areas (more on this later*). It was cut a bit unevenly so it was a little thick in some places and thin in others. I found the thinner cut tuna tasted better than thicker areas. Cutting smoked fish by hand is an art.
What I didn’t like at all about this product were white thread-like areas, some of which when you ate them were tough and inedible. Like sinew.,,, do tuna have sinew? I guess they do! You can see the white thread like areas in the package. I carefully cut the densest of the white areas away before serving, which was a pain. These tough white areas seem like a lack of quality of the tuna and its preparation. These *white thread sinews are tough and inedible. Not good!
Anyway I served it by putting the smoked Ahi Tuna on top of halves of TJ’s Red Chile scalloped crackers (LOVE THESE!) spread with softened cream cheese mixed with a pinch of greek yogurt and lemon, and topped it all off with fresh dill. This actually did make a nice combination and a nice appetizer for us. Still our guests and I couldn’t help thinking it would have been better made with smoked salmon. So would I buy this again? Frankly I doubt it as it was not terribly special, was not great quality and I think the smoked salmon TJ sells is better for the same price. However if are not big on smoked fish and/or want to try something different for all I know you just might like this as it’s barely smoked fish. A package is $6.
“Rosemary and Olive Oil intensify the rich nutty Asiago flavor”. Yes, it does! TJ’s Asiago with Rosemary is an excellent, very delicious cheese. I was really impressed when I tasted it. Compared to the regular Asiago that Trader Joe’s carries, which frankly is just OK, this is way more flavorful (and costs a bit more). In this version the added flavors, especially that of rosemary which the cheese is liberally coated with all over, greatly benefits and expands the cheese’s flavor. This cheese is excellent on its own, sliced thinly, and it was great on crackers. It was great with wine. Obviously this cheese will be a great match with almost any Italian dish. I grated this up, then tossed a generous amount over sautéed gnocchi and it was absolutely delicious on them. If you try this with almost any pasta dish you will like it. This is great as a second or third cheese on a Pizza. I did one with it and people scarfed it up! Rosemary Asiago would be great on a cheese plate or charcuterie plate, especially with grapes or other fruits, and some nice crackers. Wine too, naturally! TJ sells this cheese for $9/lb a decent price for a premium cheese like this. Try this, you will love it.
Very, very thin cookies with a wonderful lemon flavor. I’ve eaten them with coffee, tea, and milk. They go perfectly with anything. They are so thin, they go down fast and easy, and I found myself reaching for “just one more”. The package says “9 cookies is one serving” (no problem!) These cookies would look elegant for guests coming for tea or coffee. Whenever we have guests again, that is. About $3. Worth trying.
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
Recent Comments