Price: $2.19
Serving: ½ package (5oz.)
Calories: 150 per serving
Fat: 14%, 9g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 21%, 510mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 4%, 13g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 4g
WW: 3 POINTS per serving
WW: 6 POINTS per package

Trader Joe says: A traditional Punjabi recipe with a barbecue flavor. Whole eggplants are grilled over an open flame until they develop a wonderful smoky taste and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. They are then cooked with an array of spices that give this dish a distinctive flavor. Serve with fluffy rice, hot Indian bread, pita or tortillas. You can also use as a burrito filling.

Valerie says: First off, please allow me to apologize for being that strange person who eats the recommended serving size. Not having a kitchen for a year and a half allowed me to singlehandedly keep the Indian buffet down the street in business, so now I’m trying to lose the weight I put on by avoiding mindlessly shoveling mountains of Indian food into my face hole.

Inside the box, this meal comes packaged in a silver pouch, which the instructions say to not microwave. So I put it into a bowl and nuked it for about a minute. It came out bubbling around the edges, making for a nice hot dish when stirred. I poured mine on top of a serving of Trader Joe’s Organic Jasmine Rice, and it was the perfect amount of food for lunch. I’m pretty sure the aroma assaulted the entire east wing of my office, but oh well… take that, seafood-wafting coworkers!

This dish tastes so much better than it looks or sounds. It’s not what Americans would consider “barbecue flavored” at all, so don’t be put off by the weirdness of that description like I was! The level of spiciness is perfect for me, but if you’re sensitive, you may find it too spicy.

Although 9 grams of fat seems like a lot, only 1 of those grams is saturated. Also, it somehow has no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives! The ingredient list is simply: eggplant, tomatoes, onions, sunflower oil, pumpkin, garlic, salt, coriander, chilies, cumin, ginger, tumeric, cloves. Also, the box says it’s a “product of India,” which I assume means that it is actually made in India. So Trader Joe, I want to know how this is possible. How do you make cheap, delicious, shelf-stable and possibly authentic Indian food with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives? Seriously, it blows my mind. I can’t wait to try out your burrito filling suggestion!

Price: $2.99
Serving: 1/2 cup, 4oz
Servings per box: About 3.5oz
Calories per serving: 220
 Calories from Fat: 130
Fat: 23%, 18g
 Saturated Fat: 46%, 9g
 Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 16%, 45mg
Sodium: 9%, 210mg
Protein: 4g
Carbohydrates: 7%, 21g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 POINTS

Trader Joe says: Trader Joe’s Steakhouse Sides are where comfort food and elegant dining find common ground. These are substantive side dishes that will simultaneously remind you of Mom’s kitchen and a fine steak house.

Creamed Corn is a savory side of fresh white corn blended with Asiago cheese, butter, cream and just a touch of real maple syrup to finish it off. It’s delicious with any kind of grilled meat, and complements seafood especially well. Trader Joe’s Steakhouse Sides – when you need to put your best food forward.

Abi says: Corn is one of the best parts of summer. Unfortunately, it goes from perfect to bland after just a couple of days in the fridge. Plus, corn is crazy expensive in Palo Alto ($1 per ear – yikes!). But oh my goodness do I love corn, corn that’s barely blanched and crisply sweet, corn that’s cut off the ear and mixed with a bit of butter and brown sugar, corn that’s grilled and then sprinkled with fresh lime and chili powder. Corn, corn, corn!

Alas, come October there will be no more fresh corn. And that is why I am giving you a chance to stock up on Trader Joe’s creamed corn right now. This is perhaps the easiest side dish I have ever consumed, easier even than those steam-pouches of vegetables. This is corn in a buttery, sweet and salty cheese sauce. Not a velveeta-y cheese sauce, no this is more of a savory, clumpy medium that indicates real cheese, real delicious cheese.

The heating process is simple: put in microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then microwave for 2 more minutes. Yeah, the box has all of this “5 minutes at 50%” junk but I am telling you that you will waste multiple minutes trying to heat food that way. Another downside: the weird serving size. According to Trader Joe’s there are 3.5 servings in this package. Honestly, there are 3 side-dish sized servings that will satisfy starved adults. And when potluck time comes this fall and winter, all you have to do is buy 2 or three packages of this corn, throw some freshly-chopped (or deep fried) sage on top and you’ve got a dish that appears to have been cooked by an actual person.

Ingredients: Sweet white corn, heavy cream, unsalted butter, asiago cheese, maple syrup, rice starch, salt, black pepper.

Price: $2.39
Serving: 2 oz.
Calories: 200 per serving
Fat: 3%, 2g
Cholesterol: 5%, 15mg
Sodium: 10%, 250mg
Protein: 3g
Carbohydrates: 14%, 42g
Fiber: 2%, Less than 1g
Sugar: 26g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 POINTS

Brand Name says: 60 Seconds to All-Natural Satisfaction! Mix, Microwave and Enjoy!

Chavi says: Oh. My. Wow. Maybe I’ve been eating dining hall food for too long (okay, a mere three weeks), but this little heat-eat-devour treat made my night, nay, my week. And I found it on the shelf completely by accident as I was shopping the overpriced grocery market inside the student union for a simple jug of milk. Yes, I’m a poor graduate student, so low costs and ease-of-production are key when it comes to late-night sugar cravings and snacks. Luckily, I think I’ve found a new dessert treat.

I was skeptical about these dessert bowls, mostly because every other dessert bowl on the planet has treated me to an overcooked, bland hunk of disappointment. But seeing the Guiltless Gourmet label gave me a boost of confidence because I fell in love earlier this year with their tortilla chips. I ignored the price (which in truth isn’t that bad) and ran for the counter. While mixing the powder with a simple addition of water, my skepticism resurfaced — it smelled deliciously like bananas, but the consistency resembled something that neither would rise nor taste very good. So I popped it into the microwave for 30 seconds, and after a few additional 10 and 15 second heatings, and after giddily watching the center rise and bubble like a mad scientist, I pulled the bowl out. Then came the “caramel sauce,” which I expected to be sort of thick, not to the consistency of frosting, but to the consistency of caramel syrup. It was, however, pretty watery and gave me a wary feeling. After snapping a few photos, I dug in … and my tastebuds began to dance.

It was incredibly moist (even after I cooked it about 15 seconds longer than it had suggested), and the sauce — despite it’s watery nature — was a perfect accompaniment to the creamy, warm banana cake. Add to this the nifty “special cool-handle bowl” that wards off unnecessary burns, and you really can’t go wrong. My only gripe might be that it was a tad on the sugary side, but that’s the joy of the dessert bowl — it’s a mere one serving, so when you’re edging on sugar overload, you’re essentially done.

Yes, it might be a four-point dessert on the Weight Watchers scale, but when you want a piece of soft, moist cake in all it’s sugary, creamy goodness, you want to know that buying a dessert bowl isn’t going to make your wallet and your tastebuds weep in disappointment. I’m already anticipating my next dessert bowl adventure with the Black Velvet Cake with Caramel Sauce. It sounds, in a word, orgasmic.

Price: $3.49
Serving: 1 box, 9oz
Calories: 330 per serving
   Calories from Fat: 190
Fat: 32%, 21g
   Saturated Fat: 39%, 8g
   Trans Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 14%, 40mg
Sodium: 35%, 850mg
Protein: 9g
Carbohydrates: 8%, 25g
Fiber: 6%, 1g
Sugar: 3g
Weight Watchers Points: 8 POINTS

Trader Joe says: Paneer Tikka Masala with Spinach Basmati Rice – Authentic Indian Recipe

Abi says: I love Indian food. I like the rich flavors, the enthusiastic use of seasoning, the way you can eat with your hands using rice and/or naan. I like that there are dishes with cheese and dishes with meat and dishes with neither cheese nor meat.

What I don’t like is that paneer tikka masala doesn’t travel well. Sure, I can throw some leftovers in a plastic container, but the constant fear of a purse full of sauce is a huge deterrent. I’m talking serious fear here. I love my purse. I love paneer tikka masala. I don’t want my purse to get any paneer tikka masala lovin’. What can I say? I am a jealous lady.

You know who else is jealous? Everyone who saw this meal, from my commute buddy to coworkers, people either saw the box and said ‘Wow, that looks really good. I need to start bringing frozen food to work.’ or they endured the amazing aromas of my lunch and said ‘I am going to go get some Indian food now. Also, I hate you Abi for making me spend money instead of eating my sandwich in peace.’*

This meal weighs in at just 9 ounces, but provides such a hearty portion of tikka masala’d paneer that I was worried I wouldn’t have enough rice. The tikka masala is fragrant with spices that must come straight from heaven. The individual cheese cubes are not quite in the same abundance as shown on the box. In fact, the picture on the box is only really a “Serving Suggestion” if the suggestion is “Buy two boxes of the meal and put them on the same plate.”

Alas, I can’t tell you much about the spinach rice. In my enthusiasm to consume this meal I completely forgot to taste it solo. I just mixed everything together into one rather unattractive mass of super-delicious food. So, as a sauce-conveying mechanism, the green rice is awesome. As a stand-alone meal component I’m at a loss.

What I can tell you is that Trader Joe’s knows what they’re doing with this meal. There is exactly enough rice for the paneer and sauce, the flavor of the tikka masala is divine without being overly spicy (I adore spicy, this was medium intensity), and there’s no chance that the meal will end up all over the inside of your purse. Could this meal get any better? Yes, it could include a chocolate lava cake, then it would be perfect.

Bravo, Trader Joe’s!

*Not an actual quote. More like the gist of a quote. Yes, that person did go buy Indian food.