Tonight I had a delicious side dish from Knorr. It's part of their Sides Plus Veggies line. The flavor I tried is called Roasted Chicken Flavor Rice With Harvest Vegetables.

This is basically a mixture of chicken-flavored rice, small pasta pieces, and vegetables. It's similar to the chicken-flavored Rice-A-Roni product, but with extra veggies. In this case, there are carrots, corn, peas, leeks, and mushrooms.

It's simple enough to prepare. Especially if you choose the microwave directions. Simply empty the envelope's contents into a bowl. Add water and margarine (optional). Then cover and heat. I like to add extra water - instead of the 2.25 cups, I put about 3 cups in, and heat for extra time. It makes the rice and pasta extra soft and "fluffy".

Each envelope makes two servings. Each serving contains more calories and sodium than I like, but at least this is a low-fat food. If you skip the margarine, each serving contains 270 calories, 750 mg of sodium, and 2.5 g of fat. Obviously, if you add the margarine you have to add to these numbers.

The finished product, remarkably, looked just like the picture on the package. No false advertising here!

But the important thing for me is the taste. And I have to say I like this product very much. The pasta pieces are not specified, but I think they are orzo. At least they look, and taste like orzo. Together with the rice, and chicken flavor, they are delicious. The chicken flavor, by the way, comes from chicken fat, chicken powder, and chicken broth. Nope, this is not a vegetarian product.

I love how the sauce gets really thick after standing for a few minutes. And while the teeny little mushroom pieces, the leeks and the carrots don't add a whole lot, I really like the corn and the peas. I would actually say that this product is delicious. And while I ate it as a side dish, I can definitely see making it into a whole meal by adding grilled chicken, and perhaps some additional veggies like onions and broccoli.

I bought this product at BJ's in a 6-pack. They're also sold individually, and in larger multi-packs. I don't remember the exact price that I paid, but I think it came to just over $1 per pouch. (But don't hold me to that).

I like this product and will enjoy it as an occasional tasty side dish.


Knorr Chicken and Broccoli Whole Grain Rice Sides
Knorr Sides Plus Veggies : Roasted Garlic, Olive Oil, and Broccoli Rotini


Recommended: Yes