Anonymous wrote:My favorite TJ's thing are the precooked French lentils in the produce case.

I keep them on hand either for vegetarian bolognese or a fall salad (arugula, lentils, roasted butternut squash with feta or goat cheese).

How long do those lentils last? Do they go bad?

one more super easy one- pasta + their unexpected cheddar cheese dip. Cook the pasta, reserve 1/2 c pasta water, stir in the dip, thin out a little with the water. Voila unexpected cheddar pasta.

There's also a recipe where you buy the premade chicken shwarma thights, air fry them, wrap up in the lavash wrap with tzatiki, a little spinach and chopped tomatoes.

Did you make the frozen gorgonzola gnocchi with the spinach tossed in and the candied pecans on top?

i also used the candied pecans in a recipe later that week that was butternut squash ravioli in brown butter, sage and parm with the pecans on top.

Anonymous wrote:There's an instagram account/website called Trader Joes 5 items or Less recipest and we have gotten lots of ideas off there.

Yes I saw the gnocci on there and then found it in the freezer case. Would never ever sift through that freezer case, so glad to know about it. It has sauce and cheese inside it. So far we have had it with (more) sauce but I think I want to try pesto or just a simple garlic olive oil parmesan sauce.

My favorite TJ's thing are the precooked French lentils in the produce case.

I keep them on hand either for vegetarian bolognese or a fall salad (arugula, lentils, roasted butternut squash with feta or goat cheese).

There's an instagram account/website called Trader Joes 5 items or Less recipest and we have gotten lots of ideas off there.

I just started buying from the refrigerator case the chimichurri sauce and the zhug sauce (very spicy) and both are great and pep up everything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Roasted red pepper and tomato soup with chimichurri rice, black beans, corn and a little vegetable stock. You can also sauté peppers and onions before adding the other things. Cheese and tortilla chips.

I’ve mixed the Japanese fried rice, cauliflower fried rice and cubed baked tofu.

Lentils, bruschetta and feta. Can add cubed cucumber or have on the side. Serve with pita, dolmades.

Yes to the red pepper soup with the chimichurri rice that's in the freezer section (I haven't done black beans and corn but that sounds good). They were doing this as an in-store sample once and it's now in my rotation.

Agree that is a good one!

I like the cheese tortellini in the refrigerator section. I make my own pesto with the fresh basil they have (large container for cheap) but they have a ready made vegan kale pesto that is really good too.

Anonymous wrote:Roasted red pepper and tomato soup with chimichurri rice, black beans, corn and a little vegetable stock. You can also sauté peppers and onions before adding the other things. Cheese and tortilla chips.

I’ve mixed the Japanese fried rice, cauliflower fried rice and cubed baked tofu.

Lentils, bruschetta and feta. Can add cubed cucumber or have on the side. Serve with pita, dolmades.

Yes to the red pepper soup with the chimichurri rice that's in the freezer section (I haven't done black beans and corn but that sounds good). They were doing this as an in-store sample once and it's now in my rotation.

Roasted red pepper and tomato soup with chimichurri rice, black beans, corn and a little vegetable stock. You can also sauté peppers and onions before adding the other things. Cheese and tortilla chips.

I’ve mixed the Japanese fried rice, cauliflower fried rice and cubed baked tofu.

Lentils, bruschetta and feta. Can add cubed cucumber or have on the side. Serve with pita, dolmades.

They have really good fresh mozarella so we do a sandwich night with that, bacon, avocado, arugula, and their focaccia or their par baked ciabatta rolls and I serve with kale chips or carrots on side.

I also like their frozen brown rice for quick dinners. I do a quick fried rice -/ sautee chopped garlic, chopped carrots, a frozen ginger cube (or fresh ginger if you have it) and the white part of a bunch of scallions in a mix of sesame and olive oil, then add the frozen rice packet, a bunch of their frozen organic peas to the sizzling oil mixture and cook. Add the chopped green part of the scallions when it’s done and serve with their sriracha sauce and soy sauce. It’s like 5 minutes, requires no prep, feels relatively healthy and is very tasty. The kids love it.

Their garlic naan served with a quick veggie mix of canned chickpeas sautéed with chopped carrots, garlic and curry powder (can also add tomatos and onions if you have them).

Their precooked lentils and enchilada sauce used to make enchiladas with their tortillas and cheddar cheese (I make a bechamel and mix the enchilada sauce 50/50 with that to make them extra creamy).

Airpopped popcorn with their everything but the eliote spice mix.

They have a panko crusted tilapia in the freezer section. We have that with their frozen mango (defrosted), coleslaw, corn tortillas, sour cream, chili lime seasoning

Mediterranean bowls with items like their broccoli kale salad, frozen falafel, frozen beef kebabs, hummus, tzatziki, dolmas, feta cheese.

I rarely get to Trader Joe's, it just isn't super convenient from where I live compared with other choice. But I'm intrigued by their recipe site and I can carve out time to get there on the weekends. Does anyone have any go-tos from their recipe site (or other "easy" ideas) that you use in your rotation? I'm in a bit of a cooking rut!