Top Chef (any season) is one of my must watch shows. I love the regular ones, the dessert one, and even the master’s version of the show. And that Tom Colicchio, oh my gosh, he is just so cute I think. So, if you have been watching the current season (they are in Texas) you may have noticed that Healthy Choice is one of the sponsors. There is also this new line of Healthy Choice meals that are inspired by Top Chef that I was asked to try.
I tried 2 different varieties. On the left is the Grilled Chicken Pesto with Vegetables and on the right is Barbecue Seasoned Steak with Red Potatoes. The chicken one is something I would normally pick out, but the steak one is out of my normal range of frozen meals I buy. I wanted to give it a try though.
The Café Steamers have two parts. The top basket has the meat, pastas, veggies, in it. This is what that part looks like after cooked.
Then you, carefully, life up the basket and in the bowl underneath is the sauce. You pour the basket contents into the sauce and stir it all up.
Ta-dah! This is the end result for both of them. I left them in the microwave bowl on purpose – that’s they way I eat microwave meals. I don’t put them on fancy plates like they do in commercials. Now for the tastes. For the Grilled Chicken Pesto and pasta I was happy with the amount of flavor the dish had. Many times I feel the need to add a lot of pepper or some fresh Parmesan cheese to these frozen pasta dishes – but this one flavorful without adding to it. There was a nice amount of chicken and pasta. I would have liked a few more pieces of zucchini though because it was surprisingly good. Next is the Barbecue Steak and potatoes variety. This really surprised me because honestly I did not have high expectations for it. It is good though. The meat was very tender and had a really nice smoky barbecue flavor. The potatoes were really good (my favorite part) and have the skin on also. Just the right texture to them. This dish also had corn and red and green pepper pieces in it – I could live without that. Hubby actually tried some of this one also and he said on a scale of 1-10 for microwave meals he gave it an 8 – he was impressed. He said he might like these for lunch, although for his lunch the portion is small. Overall, thumbs up! I would buy these again and I planning on trying the other varieties too. Here are the current Top Chef Inspired choices:
Barbeque Seasoned Steak with Red Potatoes
Chicken Fresca with Chardonnay
Chicken Linguini with Red Pepper Alfredo
Chicken Margherita with Balsamic
Grilled Chicken Marinara with Parmesan
Grilled Chicken Pesto with Vegetables
Grilled Vegetables Mediterranean with Rice
Roasted Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms
A few nutrition numbers for you all. For the chicken version it is 3g fiber, 21g protein, and 310 calories. It has a Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value of 8, sodium is kind of high for me at 550mg. The steak version is 4g fiber, 20g protein, 330 calories, Weight Watchers PointsPlus of 8, and again 550mg of sodium.
I found these at my regular grocery store chain, Dierbergs. This week they are actually on sale their 3/$9 so I may stock up on a few more. The suggested retail is $2.75-$3.50 You can find out more and get a coupon at healthychoice.com, watch the Top Chef Showdown, follow @Healthy_Choice on Twitter, and like Healthy Choice on Facebook.
Will you be trying these? Which one sounds best?
Any favorite chefs this season? It’s too early for me to pick!
Disclosure: I have received samples and a stipend from TheMotherhood.com on behalf of Healthy Choice. Opinions are entirely my own.
© 2011, Robyn Wright. All rights reserved.
