Trader Joe's latest: Crispy seaweed snacks

Consider your basic sushi roll, the kind with the dark green wrapper. Take away the rice and the fish and what you're left with is that dark green wrapper.

That clever Trader Joe has now dusted that wrapper with salt and wasabi and packaged it for 99 cents as a virtuous snack.

You know the name of the blog, people: I'll Bite. And I will.

This morning, I opened a package of Trader Joe's Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snack. The first thing to get past is the texture: It's sort of plastic, shiny and very green, like freeze-dried Astroturf. It's also a bit fishy. But it is crisp, and it delivers a dose of salt and a nose-clearing hit of wasabi. It's weirdly addictive if you're trying to avoid potato chips. You also can crumble a few sheets for a salad topping.

Half of a package, or about 10 to 15 palm-size rectangles, has 30 calories, 2 grams of fat (none trans or saturated) and 60 milligrams of sodium, with 20 percent of your RDA of Vitamin C, a little vitamin A and tiny bit of iron.

OK, what IS on your Trader Joe's list?

Why, it seems like just five years ago that we were tapping our internal feet and waiting for the mystic Trader Joe's to sail into Charlotte. Now we're accustomed to all of it -- the Hawaiian shirts, the ship's bell, the quaint irritation when they run out of raw pine nuts right in the middle of pesto season.

Was there ever a time when we didn't speak Jo-Jo and Cat Cookie?

In my last post, I asked you to share the things you've gotten at Trader Joe's that weren't up to your standards. Now, as I promised, it's time to share your list of things you always get or seriously love.

Judging from the piled-high carts I see when I slip in, some people may have very long lists. So -- if it isn't too rude -- let me ask for your Top 5: The five things you always get when you go.

I'll start:
1. The frozen oatmeal (Costco does it cheaper, but Joe does it tastier)
2. Chocolate Cat Cookies
3. Just A Handful Simple Almonds, Cashews & Cranberries Trek Mix (perfect for desk drawer and airline snacking)
4. All-butter puff pastry
5. Mandarin Orange Chicken, the one thing my husband and son will make for themselves when I'm out of town.

If it's Christmas, my five-list would be: Peppermint Jo-Jo's, Peppermint Jo-Jo's, Peppermint Jo-Jo's, Peppermint Jo-Jo's and Peppermint Jo-Jo's.

So what's your 5 list?

What isn't on your Trader Joe's list?

Yes, there are plenty of things at Trader Joe's that I love. The kalamata olive oil, Mandarin Orange Chicken and frozen jasmine rice all have regular spots in my kitchen. I still mourn the departure of the mojito simmer sauce.

But with so many unusual and quirky products, you're going to hit a wrong one occasionally. In a blind tasting of chicken broths in 2008, the one that was dead-last for me was Joe's. It had such a fake taste, I described it as tasting like rubber chicken.

So before I ask for a list of the things you always get at Trader Joe's, I wanted to start with the opposite: What didn't work for you? Looking around online, there are poor reviews for chicken lasagne, lobster ravioli and chocolate-covered edamame. I confess their Dijon mustard doesn't have the zing of Grey Poupon, and the cilantro dressing didn't fly for me.

Are there Trader Joe's products that you tried once and didn't add to your favorites list?