First off, I should probably admit that I'm a huge fan of Trader Joe's. Like many people, I go there every week or two; unlike many people, my pilgrimages involve two 45-minute subway rides and about a mile of walking with armloads of groceries. Even these struggles, however, are worth it, as the great TJs can usually be counted upon to serve up first-rate food at prices that are often half of what I pay in my neighborhood. Better yet, their heavy tendency toward organic (or at least HFCS-free) food has gained them my unending loyalty.

Every time I go to the store, I try to pick up one or two things that I haven't tried before. Recently, I tried out a few of their foil-packed Indian dishes, including their palak paneer. While the food was fresh, the seasoning seemed to be inspired by Campbell's, not Calcutta. They were bland, mainstream, and borderline unpalatable.

This was particularly disappointing, given the fairly high bar that I've set for Indian convenience foods. Years ago, when my wife and I were trying to cut back on our meal expenditures, we started bringing home Gits foil-packed convenience foods from our local international grocery store. The dishes weren't quite as good as the fresh-made food we could get at our local Indian restaurant or the dishes that we made from scratch, but they also retailed for under $2 per pack, which meant that we could eat three dishes and have leftovers for about $6. Moreover, they blew away pretty much any American convience food maker, both in terms of price and quality.