This most recent salad pick was the result of me spending like 15 minutes deciding which salad to try. It required re-circling the store a few times like a vulture as to not hover over the TJ's crew member restocking the salad case. Isn't it kind of weird when you're trying to do your job and this petite Asian lady stands over you for 15 minutes?
So yes, I wasn't about to try anything "Trader Ming" esque. Wanted something different from the usual Greek, Caesar, or whatever grilled chicken. Have gotten the Harvest Salad too many times. Don't want a noodle based salad but want something heftier. No kale...I only like my kale salads massaged. I wanted something relatively cheese-less, because at the moment it wasn't agreeing with me. And the dressing has to be interesting, good, but not too interesting because too interesting could be disasterous. Do you see why this took 15 minutes?
Lots of vitaminsssss.
A terrible picture of the other nutrition facts. 60g of carbohydrates sounds fine to me. :P
This salad was surprisingly satisfying. Or at least I think it was. Then again, it could have been the two slices of brioche that I had with it, defeating the purpose of eating a salad lol. It has all the necessary components of a decently tasty salad. There's good textural variety from the al dente-esque bite of the wheat berries to the creaminess of the goat cheese. At first, I wondered why butternut squash was still lurking around. It seems more like a fall food to me. Usually I have it roasted, but here it's really crunchy with not much flavor. Weird but edible. The golden raisins aka sultanas (thanks Brits! I'm surprised there aren't any celebrity babies named that) provide a sweet accent that stands out from the honey sesame vinaigrette, which I found pretty well balanced too. The sesame doesn't overwhelm anything, and the balance of sweetness, sourness/acidity, and savoriness is just right. Then again, I only add enough dressing needed to appropriately dress, not drench the salad, which is maybe half of the salad packet at most. $3.99. Better than your school/work cafeteria, TBH.
Repurchase? Probably, given the right need for something healthy and the mood for vegetably goodness. Should you run out and get this? Not necessarily. It's nothing crazy special, but just know it's a reliable pick for all your on-the-go-slash-I'm-too-lazy-or-busy-and-can't-be-bothered-to-do-it-myself spring salad needs.
TL;DR: Trader Joe's Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Quinoa and Wheatberry Salad. Good sweet/savory balance. Another solid, meatless salad pick. 7 out of 10.
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