A 10 oz jar of Trader Joe's "chunky mix of green olives, Tomatoes, Red Peppers, Garlic, and Lemon Juice." This is great on crostini, of course, but I have used it to make a side dish which resembles pasta putanesca:

Toss it with hot drained penne pasta, and add black olives (dry cured are fabulous), grate parmigiano Reggianno over top, add coarse chopped basil, olive oil, and lightly sauteed pine nuts (browned in butter) and toss just before serving.

It is outstanding. You will think you are in a 5 star restaurant, yet you can make this as a weekday meal! We practically licked our plates! Ive also tried this with Trader Joe's greek style ravioli- also wonderful! I've also used it in salad dressings and especially warm pasta salads with chunks of dried salami, prosciutto, aged provolone cheese, roasted red pepper. Fabulous.

Gourmet on a budget, satisfies health requirements, and looks gorgeous on the table for company, or for any night of the week! The price is 3.99- not bad at all, when gourmet shops charge about twice that, and regular grocery stores don't carry anything like it. The good life, courtesy of TJs! How would I manage without them?!