I am going to have to give Starbucks an F for effort on this one. Maybe a D?

While I am excited that Starbucks finally has a salad that is not topped with chicken or cheese, I really feel like more thought could have gone into creating this salad. As it is there is just too much going on.

I should probably say that I would never actually purchase food from Starbucks, and while I did used to indulge in a Frappucino every once in a while before I went veg, or a soy chai tea latté after, these days I just can't justify the cost of a $4 drink that is so unhealthy. However, I can't say no to a donation. My former roommate, who also happens to be a Starbucks employee, stopped by yesterday with a box worth of items that his restaurant was throwing away. I was overjoyed to find this salad free of animal products, especially because I was on my way to the supermarket to pick up something for dinner.

I'm really sorry to say that I had a hard time enjoying this, the "Hearty Veggie and Brown Rice Salad Bowl". Which is a damn shame, because I really wanted to, and not only that, I am a fan of all of the ingredients. There were just too many of them. This salad has brown rice, butternut squash, broccoli, roasted beets, kale, red cabbage, roasted tomatoes, and PEAS (the addition of peas makes me furious for some reason).  I feel like if they removed the brown rice and peas this salad might have worked, can fill up a decent amount of space in a container for a very small amount of money, and make the consumer think they are getting more for their money. But as it was there was just too much in there. I wanted more broccoli but I only got two crowns. I wanted more butternut squash and roasted beets, but there were only a few chunks of each. I would have much rather more of a few things, than a mess of different flavors each time I took a bite. I would love to know who thought peas were a good idea for this salad. Or any salad. But that's just my opinion, I'm sure peas have never hurt anyone.

Lastly the dressing. Again, I feel like Starbucks was cheaping out here. The lemon-tahini dressing was far more lemon than tahini, resulted it being a bit too sour for my liking.

With all that being said. I do, at least, appreciate the effort, that Starbucks is putting into this, more vegan options is always a good thing. Its just that the effort was not all that good. A vegan menu choice doesn't have to have every vegan ingredient you can think of. Thanks for trying, anyway.

Here are some pictures of the salad that tried too hard.