My Trader Joe's Haul

a not-exhaustive, highly personal shopping guide, plus a sort-of-recipe

Welcome back to Mess Hall, a cooking newsletter from me, Marian Bull. A few housekeeping notes before we get started today:

+ A few people noted that last week’s chia pudding was a little on the savory side, and after consulting my testing notes it appears that I upped the salt from the “written in my notebook” recipe to the “written in the CMS recipe” for mysterious reasons. I’ve updated the recipe in the post, to bring down initial quantity and allow for more salt if you, like me, like your breakfast on the savory side of sweet. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback; the success of my recipes is really important to me. As the celebs say….I’m listening and learning :)

+ You may or may not know that I also make ceramics?? I just added a bunch of preorders to the shop—custom mugs, painted mugs, big vases that look like plastic shopping bags, etc. Mess Hall subscribers get 10% off with the code MESSY.

+ Solidarity with everyone at BuzzFeed who got laid off yesterday. All my homies hate Jonah Peretti!!!!!

Ok—now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

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I have a complicated history with Trader Joe’s. My mom was an early adopter, and I have fond memories of trolling the aisles with her and picking up free samples. On Sunday afternoons or weeknight evenings, I’d sit in front of the TV and make myself sick eating an entire tub of their now-discontinued chocolate chip meringues. (They currently only sell the plain vanilla flavor, which lacks the textural intrigue of the old recipe.)

Things soured ten years ago, when I was an unpaid intern at Food52 and had the weekly job of shopping for our Tuesday photo shoots. One week I had to buy brussels sprouts on the stalk, alongside a panoply of winter squash. Weighed down by maybe ten pounds of squash, I searched the farmers market and then Whole Foods for on-stalk sprouts but found none, so I trudged down 14th Street towards Trader Joe’s. The good news was they had what I needed, the bad news was that on a Monday night at 7 PM the 14th Street Manhattan Trader Joe’s was at maximum capacity, its line snaking through the entire store. I white knuckled a mid-grade panic attack, hyperventilating and trying to keep my shit together through the checkout process, and did not return to an NYC Trader Joe’s until maybe five years ago. After that point I’d go maybe once every six months, mostly as a novelty experience, never sure what I actually wanted or what I should buy. I’d occasionally read Alex Beggs’ monthly product reviews, but it felt more like window shopping than pragmatic grocery research.

Last fall, though, my therapist moved to an office around the corner from [redacted Trader Joe’s location], and the store entered my life anew, now as a post-therapy treat. I go once or twice a month, to stock up on cheap staples and a few specialty things; I know that a lot of people rely on TJs for convenience foods like frozen rice or frozen garlic cubes¹—or see it as an opportunity to buy novelty foods like funfetti cookie sandwiches and pickle corn dogs—but I mostly go for price and variety. After reading Alicia’s Costco Haul, I thought it would be fun to share my go-to Trader Joe’s items. Would love to hear about what everyone else gets in the comments!

Pantry:

Sicilian Olive Oil
I know I’ve written about how I love buying my 5 gallon jug of the fancy stuff, but I also love buying this $8 bottle, which I think has the best flavor of their “nicer” olive oils and is still crazy cheap. Incredible value for this level of quality.

Bomba Sauce
Their version of calabrian chile paste. I add it to pots of beans, pasta, eggs, sandwiches, ricotta toast, etc etc etc. Only downside is it goes bad kinda quickly.

Chia Seeds
These are like $7 a bag, each of which makes at least 4 jars of chia pudding.

Tinned fish
The smoked trout is great, the smoked salmon is good, I also like their skinless sardines. These are cheap and that’s why I buy them, but can I say anything about their provenance or the ways they’ve been caught/farmed? I cannot.

Freeze Dried Strawberries
As I mentioned last week I like to crush these up and use them as a topping for chia pudding, yogurt bowls, etc.

Medjool Dates, Whole
The best dates in the city are at Kalustyan’s. Unfortunately I’m rarely nearby, and TJs offers the next-best option. These are reliably juicy and sticky, never dry.

Half Flour Half Corn Tortillas
I found out about these from Lucas Sin when I was writing a short-lived column for Eater where I talked to chefs about their favorite products at Trader Joe’s.² They really are the best of both worlds: they've got the flavor of corn and the pliable thickness of flour. One of TJs' best products, imo.

Organic Brown Rice Thins
This is something that I think a lot of people consider to be a “diet food” and I get it—I have abused them in the past!!—but I also think they make for ideal snacking. Here’s what I do: I take a few thin cakes, spread tahini over each one, then drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with flaky salt and chili flakes.

Creamy Almond Butter
I am an almond butter girlie and I am pretty sure this is the best price you can get outside of Costco. Another beloved afternoon snack for me is a couple of dates stuffed with almond butter and studded with chocolate chips.

Almond Butter Granola
Good granola is a luxury to me, so I rarely buy it, but I love this! Perfect clumpy texture, not to sweet, goes well with lots of different fruits and flavors.

Dairy and Produce:

Organic Grass-Fed Whole Milk
Now that I am back on milk I’ve really been trying to buy local stuff from the farmers market or CSA or similar, in part to get the best quality possible and in part to ~support local farms~, but when I can’t make it this is a good dupe. It does have that pleasantly grassy flavor that I love, and it’s like 5 bucks???

Goat Kefir
Okay after staying with my friend Tom last fall and drinking their daily smoothie—an almost alchemical hippie concoction—I figured I should get into kefir. I keep it on hand for breakfasts of all sorts. The fact that it comes from a goat makes it feel “special”. Is it? I don’t know!

European-Style Whole Milk Organic Yogurt
My go-to yogurt. For chia pudding, sauces, salad dressings, etc.

Snap peas
Not really sure why, but these are reliably the best snap peas I can find at the store. Very crunchy and sweet; my favorite “snacking vegetable”. I like to slice them on a really thin bias for salads and garnishes—I’ve included a loosey goosey recipe below for a tinned fish fried rice I’ve been making with a snap pea-scallion garnish.

Baby kale
Love that this is equally perfect for salads or cooking. The flavor is even mild enough that you can put a handful in a smoothie. Doesn’t tend to get slimy in the bag. A very versatile vegetable to have in the fridge.

Raspberries
I love raspberries.

Three Snacks

Super Seedy Cheese Snack Bites
These began as an impulse purchase; I grabbed them while waiting on line. But they’re amazing. They’re like the standard cheesy crisps, but packed with seeds and whole black peppercorns, which add not just crunch but an aggressive peppery bite. I love them so much I immediately texted my friends about them. They’d be great as a salad topper, but I’ve never gotten that far, I just eat them out of the bag.

Elote Corn Dippers³
Brette brought these to a party last weekend and I loved them so much I stood at the snack table, directing everyone I saw to grab a chip and swipe it through a nearby vat of store-bought guacamole. These are insanely good? They’re puffy, spicy, a little creamy from some sort of dairy powder; they have the same chippy salty magic as a cool ranch dorito with a little more subtlety/depth/versatility.

Spicy Tempura Seaweed Snack
While my loyalty is to the Daiko Tempura Seaweed Snacks (Wasabi Flavor), I like these a lot. They’re spiced with togarashi, which has some good heat to it—more mouth-spicy than the nose-spicy of the wasabi option—and a dense, pleasant crunch. One big advantage here is that they’re nice and small, so you don’t feel like there are only ten pieces of tempura seaweed in the whole bag, which does happen with Daiko.

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Smoked Fish Fried Rice

This is something I’ve made twice in the last 24 hours. It’s a satisfying and quick meal, packs in some vegetables, doesn’t weigh you down, and uses leftovers.