Trader Joe’s Chicken Tandoori with Spinach

July 23, 2007 | Reviewer: Adina

Trader Joe’s Chicken Tandoori with Spinach Price: $2.49
Serving: 1 meal, 12 oz.
Calories: 360
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 14%, 45mg
Sodium: 20%, 520mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 17%, 51g
Fiber: 21%, 5g
Weight Watchers Points: 7 Points

Trader Joe’s says: Boneless white chicken simmered in spinach & exotic spices. Served with seasoned rice.

Adina says: Let me just start off my saying that I am not a huge fan of Indian food. I will occasionally take in an Indian buffet for some saag and naan and gulab jamuns, but generally I avoid all things curried. I blame the summer of ’93. I was 11 years old and my mother was making an Indian curry dish for dinner while I was watching Sweeney Todd on public television. I remember eating that meal – the first time I ate Indian, mind you – and wondering if my mom had slit our neighbors’ throats and ground them into patties and served me their bodies for dinner. And from that fateful moment on, I have always associated Indian food with baked carcass meat pies.

And on that lovely note - this is a really good meal. At first it seemed like it was less “Chicken Tandoori with Spinach” and more “Spinach and Rice with…is that Chicken?…it’s so tiny I can barely see it…”, but I ended up getting a medium sized chunk of chicken with every bite. Plus, the flavor was just the right amount of spiciness – kicky but not overwhelmingly spiced. I just hate those meals (cough Healthy Choice cough) where they black pepper the heck out of the meal and then call it “spiced to perfection”.

Surprisingly enough, the chicken is tender, the way tandoori chicken should be but not the way most microwave meal chicken is. And the peas added lovely texture to what would have been an otherwise mushy meal. What I enjoyed best about this meal is the flavor – microwave lunches tend to blur one into the other, and I appreciated the rich and exciting flavors this dish had to offer.

In summary, eat this meal. Even though you’re probably not hungry anymore after my Sweeney Todd story. Sorry.

[This meal was also reviewed by Abi, who also gave the meal 4 stars. So now that this meal has received 4 stars twice in a row that pretty much cements it at 4 stars. -Ed.]

comments

4 Responses to “Trader Joe’s Chicken Tandoori with Spinach”

Tracy on July 24th, 2007

I had this once–I was underswhelmed. I found it pretty bland.

But that’s just me. I like things spicy!
Kat on July 24th, 2007

Good to know. Rumor has it that Trader Joe’s is coming to my city soon, so I’ll be on the looking for this. Is it in the freezer section, or frige? I can’t tell by the container in the picture…
Abi Jones on July 24th, 2007

This is in the freezer section at Trader Joe’s.
Crow on July 25th, 2007

“I remember eating that meal – the first time I ate Indian, mind you – and wondering if my mom had slit our neighbors’ throats and ground them into patties and served me their bodies for dinner. And from that fateful moment on, I have always associated Indian food with baked carcass meat pies.”

Did you grow up in a pulp comic, or a post-apocalyptic 1950s France?