Trader Joe's New Vegan Salad Is Just In Time For Eating Lunch Outside
For any ingredient-conscious shopper, Trader Joe's is a great store to stock up on groceries for the week. It also happens to be a convenient place to stop if you want to grab lunch on the go or for an outdoor picnic. Whether it be single-serve soups, microwaveable meals, wraps, or salad kits, you can always count on finding something quick and healthy to eat on a trip there. This summer, the grocery store chain is introducing another new lunch item — a chickpea, kale, and crispy red rice salad with avocado herb vinaigrette.
According to the package label shared on Instagram by TraderJoesAficionado, the salad also contains jalapeno peppers, sunflower seeds, spearmint, cilantro, cumin turmeric, tomato, broccoli, carrots, cooked bulgur wheat, red bell pepper, lemon juice, red onion, and more. For a salad loaded with that many flavors and mix-ins, you'd expect at least one to be some sort of meat product, but fortunately for Trader Joe's shoppers who follow a vegan diet, the ingredients are entirely plant-based.
Customers aren't impressed by the serving size
When you buy premade salad bowls, typically you eat them in one sitting. Trader Joe's chickpea, kale, and crispy red rice salad, however, is apparently enough for three servings. Customers commenting under TraderJoesList's Instagram post disagree with the nutrition label's estimate, reasoning that 10 ounces of salad is perfectly justifiable for a single serving and that it is unlikely that anyone will limit themselves to eating only a third of the container at a time anyway.
Judging by the salad photo shared by TraderJoesAficionado, it does appear to be heavy on the dressing. According to Verywell Fit, dressing is normally responsible for contributing the most calories but the new Trader Joe's salad still comes in at a total of 360. That's great news if you're counting calories. And based on the comments from excited Trader Joe's customers on Instagram, it isn't stopping anyone from wanting to buy the salad. Those who have say it's delicious. If you'd like to try it, you can find it in the salad section of your local Trader Joe's.