Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup

When I do reviews like these, I'm always torn over how to handle my prep for the post. On one hand, I can do a bunch of research and learn as much as possible about a particular offering, maybe read another review or two about the product at hand, particularly ones written by folks who are familiar with the dish, find out the history of the item and get a nice brief but broad education before I sample the food and share my thoughts.

On the other hand, I can just dive in with no expectations and no preconceived ideas about what something is or is not supposed to be. I think I sound a little smarter when I go the former route, but I might be a tad more honest if I go the latter route.

All that to say, I know nothing about Italian wedding soup and have never had it to the best of my knowledge, and I've decided to go the no-prep route on this fine occasion. The first thing that jumps out at me: this Italian wedding soup hails from Canada rather than Italy. That's fine. I'm sure there are plenty of Italian-Canadians that have carried on their proud soup tradition in the great white north just the same as grandma used to make in the old country.

The soup: it's a typical chicken broth with teeny tiny round pasta balls, carrot bits, beef meatballs, and little green flakey things I assume are parsley. The heartiest and most flavorsome of the elements are, of course, the meatballs. They're nice and soft, and their flavor is pleasant, but they're still not the most pungent meatballs I've ever had. They have egg whites, sheep's milk, and Romano cheese in them, but they don't taste quite as robust as their ingredients might make them sound.

The carrots and acini di pepe are even less potent, but they do add a nice selection of textures to the overall mouthfeel. The parsley adds some additional visual appeal and does...you know, whatever parsley is supposed to do.

So, I mean, this isn't the greatest soup I've had from Trader Joe's, but it's not the worst, either. It's vaguely like many chicken noodle soups I've tried in terms of overall taste and comfort food value, but with small beef meatballs instead of chicken.

In the end, I would turn to an Italian and ask, "Did those Canucks do your soup justice?" Because I honestly don't know myself. It's decent soup, but I would not seek it out again.

$4.99 for the 22 oz glass jar. Refrigerate after opening. It has come to my attention that this soup is not necessarily served at actual Italian nuptials. Go figure. The "wedding" part has something to do with a marriage of flavors or something silly like that. 

Six and a half stars out of ten from me for Trader Joe's Italian-Style Wedding Soup. Sonia's had Italian wedding soup from Progresso at least once. She liked it a bit more than this selection, flavor-wise, but notes that it has significantly more sodium than this soup from TJ's. Sonia will go with seven out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 6.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Spicy Mango Habanero Guacamole

Well, shoot. If mango can work with pico de gallo, who's to say it can't work in guacamole? Avocado, mango, onion, jalapeño, bell pepper, and habanero pepper. That doesn't sound half bad.

And it isn't. It's actually surprisingly delicious. The mango gives the whole thing a bright, sweet zip. The rest? It's like regular guac minus the tomato. I've never been a huge fan of raw tomato, so it's a step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned.

Sonia's a tomato-lover, but even she loves the refreshing uniqueness of this dip. It's great on chips. Isn't all guacamole great on tortilla chips? It's just as good if not better on fish tacos. We imagine it would work with shrimp tacos, chicken tacos, and probably even classic ground beef tacos—but we can tell you from experience that white fish, beans, and cheese in corn tortillas blend beautifully with mango guac.

We polished off the tub on the same day we opened it. At 35 calories per serving, we really don't feel too bad about doing that. We have no major complaints other than the word "spicy" in the title. I mean, it does contain jalapeños and habaneros, but they're well-tempered by the other ingredients and there's not much more than a faint residual heat, at least by our standards.

Would we buy it again? You betcha. $3.49 for the 10 oz tub. Kosher. Found in the refrigerated section. Eight and a half out of ten stars from me for Trader Joe's Spicy Mango Habanero Guacamole. The beautiful wifey will spring for nine stars.

Bottom line: 8.75 out of 10.