Trader Joe’s – Trader Giotto’s Gorgonzola Chicken

I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s products and have since been dabbling in the prepared foods at Trader Joe’s. As with any sort of prepared dish, it’s hit or miss, you can only judge by the look on the box, the description and your personal food tastes.

I saw this Trader Giotto’s Gorgonzola Chicken pasta dish in the refrigerated section at Trader Joe’s. It intrigued me simply by the picture on the box. I checked out the nutrition facts, calculated the points plus values and decided it was point friendly enough to give it a go.  I admit, I haven’t had any dish in a gorgonzola cheese sauce, but since I like bleu cheese (which gorgonzola is similar to) I decided to give it a shot.  I heated the dish up in the microwave per the box directions and split it into two servings.

After pulling the plastic covering off the dish once heated, I noticed mushrooms. Huh? I looked back at the box and read the description “white chicken meat, bowtie pasta, asparagus and peas in a Gorgonzola cheese sauce.”  Yeah, as I suspected, no mention of mushrooms. I’m not a big fan of mushrooms – I enjoy mushrooms in certain dishes, but in others I just do not, this is one that I did not enjoy it in. Plus, I’ve got an odd nose (along with my food texture issues) but I can smell a mushroom in a dish and the mushroom scent was overwhelming. Swallowing my moderate dislike in mushrooms, I took a bite – WHOA bold. The gorgonzola cheese sauce is definitely pungent … a pack a punch and knock you down pungent.

The cheese naturally is salty, but this was very salty and very strong in flavor. Not for the faint of heart. I couldn’t handle it. Three bites in I threw in the towel and tossed the dish.

Points plus wise, a serving (half a container) is 7 points plus values.

QUESTION:

What is one of your favorite OR unfavorite Trader Joe’s products?

Trader Joe’s – Trader Giotto’s - Eggplant Parmesan Towers

I’ve seen this Trader Giotto’s - Eggplant Parmesan Towers refrigerated dish at Trader Joe’s for months on months and I’ve always said “next time” because my meals for the week were rather planned out. I picked this up and decided I’d have lunch with my mother.  The dish serves 2, so sharing is caring, particularly with something you would gladly eat two servings of if it was sitting in the refrigerator.

The box describes the dish as eggplant made with romano, ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and Marinara sauce.  These particular cutlets are breaded (there is another eggplant dish – frozen at Trader Joe’s that has grilled eggplant in it).  I make homemade eggplant once in a while because it reminds me of my grandmother, but I felt purchasing this not only simplified the process BUT it also eliminated the massive amounts of eggplant that typically stay when I make homemade eggplant.

Heating can be done in either the microwave or the oven, but I decided on the microwave (I was hungry).  It turned out pretty delicious!  Serving size was ½ the tray – 7 ounces.  My mother was equally impressed and she really enjoyed it as did I.  The flavors were perfect all the way through.  A perfect Italian dish that was satisfying and hit that eggplant parmesan craving over the head.

A serving size is 8 points plus, which I felt was justifiable for a cheese filled and sauce and cheese covered, breaded eggplant dish.