Trader Joe’s Middle East Feast

November 28, 2006 | Reviewer: Heather

Trader Joe's Middle East Feast

Price: $3.89
Serving: 1 package, 13 oz.
Calories: 860
Fat: 75%, 49g
Sodium: 68%, 1630mg
Protein: 25g
Carbs: 30%, 89g
Fiber: 73%, 18g
Weight Watchers Points: 20 Points

Heather says: Yes, readers, you read that nutritional information correctly. I would love to know who decided that this entire package constitutes one serving. I had to eat this meal in two fell swoops, and even a half portion left me quite full both times. Le’s just call this feast a Hungry Man for the vegan, Mediterranean food-loving set. “Good grief,” is all I can say to this portion size. I think someone at Trader Joe’s has been talking to my grandmother, and they are both VERY CONCERNED about us vegans getting too skinny (that’s a myth, by the way).

Portion size ranting aside, this meal was fantastic. It contained not just pita and hummus, but also falafel, cutesy little packages of tahini, and a generous portion of tabouleh. While I’ve had better, less parsley-heavy tabouleh, everything else gets top marks. The pita was fresh and soft, the hummus was divine, and the falafel was top-notch. I’ll definitely buy this one again. Only next time I’ll share it with a friend.

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8 Responses to “Trader Joe’s Middle East Feast”

MaryAnne on November 28th, 2006

Am I the only one shocked by the amount of fat and calories even if it was two servings? I love Trader Joe’s and all their fun food that is slowly expanding the palateâ€¦ even after I got severe food poisoning from their sushi and had to take off of work because I was vomiting so hard. But, the nutritional information is waaaay off base. I make falafel- delicious, amazing falafel- and serve it to my boyfriend complete with pita, hummus and tzatziki sauce (I’m a great girlfriend, btw). That fat content is very low- mostly from the falafel.

BTW, this is cheating! This meal isn’t frozen at all! If you’re not doing frozen meals, you might want to hit up their delicious wraps or soups. Stay away from the delicious sushi! Stay away!
Abi Jones on November 28th, 2006

Hey, just because we mostly review frozen meals doesn’t mean that we’re limited to just those foods. HeatEatReview.com’s ‘About Page’ notes that we’re all about convenience foods, not just frozen foods.

But yeah, it doesn’t look so hot, nutitionally speaking.
Heather on November 28th, 2006

Two words, MaryAnne: comfort food. I’m in grad school! Life is stressful! Hummus is good! Falafel is good! (and what that nutritional info didn’t show is that it was primarily unsaturated fat, and also that I wasn’t hungry again for about six hours.

Oh, and, in case it shows you I did kinda follow the rules: I heated up the pita in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then I ate it. And reviewed it.
Nicole on November 29th, 2006

I covet meals with such high calorie counts. And leftovers! Lovely. If only it had some meat…
Crow on November 30th, 2006

“I would love to know who decided that this entire package constitutes one serving. I had to eat this meal in two fell swoops, and even a half portion left me quite full both times.”

Um, that’s because you’re a *girl*. Jeez.
tg on November 30th, 2006

my beef with portion size is the opposite: they always seem to lowball, in an attempt to make it seem less fattening than it is. or those bottled drinks, like odwalla, which i like, but which count as two servings. does anyone open a bottle of odwalla, drink half, and then put the other half away? this TJ item at least seems more honest; they recognize that most people will prob consume a single-serving package at one time. (meanwhile i admire heather for having what is obviously a wee stomach and/or an xlnt ability not to overeat.)
Abi Jones on December 1st, 2006

I got this the other day and found that they’ve significantly reduced the meal size. Now it has 2 falafel and much smaller hummus and tabouleh sections. It was still quite filling, though not that great super-cold.
DFS on May 2nd, 2007

Just today I looked at the nutritional info after eating these for months and I was shocked. I just assumed it was low fat…and yes I know its mostly the good fats but still pushes up pretty quickly against the daily allowance. I will have to remember to eat light the rest of the day on the days that I eat this