Trader Joe's Tuesday: Lemony Love

Author: Lainey

I like lemon.  A lot.  Lots of lemon.  I'm mostly a fan of lemon in sweet foods.  Lemon curd, lemon gelato, lemon muffins, etc.   I don't tend to seek out lemon in savory foods.  I think it's because an old roommate made lemon pepper chicken once that was so awful, just peppery sourness, it almost put me off of lemon after that.  (And yes, I ate it anyway, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but ohmygod, you don't even KNOW how awful that shit was!)



So, one day my co-worker was heating up her lunch and it smelled, honest to god, like lemon-scented Pledge.  I was all, "HOLY CRAP, ARE YOU EATING PLEDGE?" and she was all, "You're an idiot".  So, nooo, she wasn't eating Pledge.  It was Trader Joe's Confetti Rice.  It smelled really delightfully and naturally lemony and also oddly fake lemony, but she showed me the bowl and it actually looked really good. 

It's rice with little chunks of red tomato, slices of yellow baby corn, and flecks of green from spinach and the lemongrass, which gives it such a lemony smell.  She offered me a taste and ... well, huh.  The first bite really did taste kind of like lemon-scented Pledge, but, and I don't know how to explain this, but not in a bad way.  Weird, I know.  I ate a second bite and decided that the lemongrass has a slightly artificial flavor when compared with regular lemon, but it's not a bad flavor; it's interesting and very robust.  I find myself craving it every couple of weeks or so.  I feel like I should be able to describe it better, but I really can't.  It's an interesting flavor that's like lemon, but isn't lemon.  I haven't had lemongrass in other things, so maybe if you have you know exactly what I'm talking about or maybe I'm just insane.  Regardless, you should try it yourself if you like rice and you like lemonish things.

The Trader Joe's Confetti Rice comes frozen with two bags per box and each bag contains two servings.  The rice makes a great side dish and even tastes pretty good cold.  I cut up a chicken breast and threw it in with the rice for a quick and really tasty and filling lunch.

Rating: 8/8 tentacles