great finds at trader joe's

[bobhalford]

I've just begun shopping at Trader Joe's. I usually do TJ and then hit the Farmer's Market in Union Square NYC.

So far I've enjoyed a couple things:

- Crab and corn chowder soup was very good, had a nice kick to it.

- Chile spiced Mango slices - interesting taste, good, but I won't be purchasing this again

- Basmati Rice medley - very good carb side dish. Just needs a good seasoning with salt and it tastes great

- Chicken Taquitos - found the chicken to be a bit dry. Won't be revisiting these

- Bean and Cheese burrito - Very good. Had trouble heating them up with the directions provided. Best way turned out just placing them on a baking sheet in the oven instead of wrapping in foil. With the (boxed) guacamole and double roasted salsa this turned out to be a tasty lunch dish.

- Margarita Pizza - I made some sausage meatballs from Fresh Direct and added to this pizza. I actually prefer this pizza to any of my preferred delivery pizzerias here in NYC. It was that good. Exceptionally cheesy. I had to heat it a few minutes longer than the 7 minutes recommended. I'm sure it's even better if you have a pizza stone to work with.

- Artichoke Ravioli - Definitely a good purchase. I served it with artichoke pesto from the Food Emporium and it would up being an artichoke overload. Anyone have a recommendation on how to sauce this ravioli?