Microwave dishes have come a long way. Nowadays, you can produce a rather gourmet meal in minutes that does not have to taste like airplane food. Grocery store (and on-campus convenience store) aisles are lined with a variety of options, some of which are even health conscious. You can find dishes made with whole-wheat pasta and frozen entrees that are calorie conscious.
After seeing the television commercials for Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine on "Seinfeld," I was curious to try them. When I went to the store, the Creamy Tomato Basil Penne sounded appetizing to me. Made with whole grain pasta, it sounded like a pretty promising option. The Fresh Mixers are almost like a sophisticated version of Easy Mac for about $5. Add water to the noodles, cook in the microwave for three and a half minutes, strain the water using the fancy top, and add the sauce.
The noodles cooked to a nice al-dente (Italian for “slightly chewy”) texture. I was surprised, though, with the small portion size–probably because it’s hard to sell a typical serving size that racks up 500+ calories.
As for the sauce, I recommend tasting it before you pour it over any dish. Thankfully, I sampled the Creamy Tomato Basil sauce before dousing the noodles because it was not tasty. Instead, I salvaged my dinner by adding a sprinkle of shredded cheese and a little salt and pepper to the noodles.
Although I wasn’t a fan of the Healthy Choice Fresh Mixer I tried, I do enjoy a well-done microwave dish. Stay tuned to read other microwave meal reviews, hopefully on more of a positive note. I am thinking about giving the Fresh Mixers another shot though, considering there are about 10 other flavors offered. Thoughts?
