In previous posts I’ve discussed my love for TJ’s Grilled Eggplant Wraps. Every time I went to Trader Joe’s, I’d zoom straight to the prepared foods section, completely ignoring all the other offerings for what I considered the ultimate prize. However, one day my friend asked me how I liked the other wraps.
“Well, I’ve never tried them,” I replied.
She gave me a blank stare. “You mean you eat two to three of the eggplant ones per week and you’ve never tried the others?!?” So, dear readers, I took a chance. Here were the results.
The veggie wrap contains a mix of cabbage, carrots, radishes, broccoli, green onions, and parsley, with hummus mixed evenly throughout. The first bite I got was pure cabbage. One thing that annoys me about these wraps is that there’s not very much stuffing on the ends, so you lose a significant portion of “balanced flavor” bites. And unlike the Eggplant wrap, there was no sauce mixture coating the lavash, so that chunk full of slaw and wheat was pretty un-enjoyable.
I liked the next bite better, as I got into the rest of the vegetables.
The garbanzo bean flavor was quite strong; it didn’t really taste like traditional hummus, more like straight-up mashed chickpeas. There was a lemony, slightly acidic flavor that I couldn’t tell if I enjoyed or not. Honestly, although I finished the whole thing, that confusion characterized the entire experience–did I like this? I couldn’t tell. (Never a good sign.)
In terms of texture, this was good. The lavash stayed soft even though it had been several days since I had gone to Trader Joe’s, and the vegetables were nice n’ crunchy. I also liked how packed this was. This kind of reminded me of a chicken salad, in terms of consistency and flavor.
But I can’t recommend it, since my feelings were lukewarm at best.
Cost: $3.99
Would I buy again: Nah
Rating: 6/10
The Spicy Lentil Wrap was greeted with enthusiastic cries by my check-out woman.
“Oh my god, this is a staff favorite,” she gushed. Do my Eggplant wraps ever get that kind of acclaim? Nope, never. In fact, they rolled by on the… black rubber rolling thing? What’s the name for that?!? Anyways, I digress. They rolled by and she didn’t say a word. So my expectations for these were high.
The lentils are strong with this one.
And… I didn’t love ’em. They start out with the same wrap basics: lavash, cabbage, canola oil, spices. Then, some lentil and bulgar is added into the mix. I don’t know, there just wasn’t a whole lot of flavor here! The lentils were gushy and bland, and I didn’t enjoy the spicy tahini dressing. It just tasted like watery almonds to me. Hey, you can buy that! It’s called almond milk.
Cost: $3.99
Would I buy again: No
Rating: 7/10
Ultimately, it all comes down to the Grilled Eggplant wraps. These are mere shadows, keeping to the corners while he basks in the golden glow of my affection.
Don’t worry, big guy. That was the last time I’ll stray.
Vegan Food Reviewer 