Stay On Track with Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken
Written: Jan 31 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: healthier frozen meal option, great flavor
Cons: portion size may not be enough for some appetites
The Bottom Line: This is a frozen dinner you will actually enjoy!
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| mariahan's Full Review: Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics Sesame Chick... |
You may have seen some of the newer and somewhat clever Lean Cuisine commercials, in which women in an office are "enjoying" their lunches. One woman crunches unhappily on her rice cake, and another slurps every last drop from a drinking glass; the viewer assumes she has finished a meal replacement shake. A co-worker chimes in that she is enjoying chicken tenderloins in a tangy plum sauce with pasta and veggies, yadda yadda yadda. "It's Sesame Chicken from Lean Cuisine. It's how I stay on track."
Lean Cuisine entrees are very appealing, especially as compared with other frozen entrees. They made appear smaller in size than others, but let us not forget this is meant to be Lean; smaller portions mean less calories, etc.
The Lean Cuisine website calls this particular entree "Sesame breaded chicken tenderloins in a tangy Asian style plum sauce accented with ginger and topped with roasted sesame seeds served aside pasta tossed with sesame oil,green beans and red peppers." What they call plum sauce I call sweet and sour sauce; its taste is comparable to sweet and sour sauce served with chicken dishes at average Asian restaurants or available for purchase at the grocery store. The sauce is really what makes this a worthwhile meal for me. After microwaving the entree (about 4 minutes at high power), I cut up the tenderloins of chicken (about 6 pieces, generally) into bite-sized pieces and mix up the pasta and chicken in the sauce with my fork. I imagine that if you did not do this, your pasta (about the thickness of angel hair, mixed with slivers of green beans and red peppers) would be very bland and boring.
If you combine the Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken entree with something else (such as a side salad, or a piece of fruit) it would make a good and reasonably filling lunch meal. By itself, it may not be enough to satisfy your appetite. But the taste of this meal is definitely superior to similar products. And I must not be the only one who thinks so: at both grocery stores I frequent, there are typically only a few boxes of the Sesame Chicken available for purchase, when there are 6-10 boxes of most of the other entrees.
If you like sweet and sour chicken and are looking for a healthier frozen meal, give this one a try!
Calories 330
Calories From Fat 80
%Daily Value* %Daily Value*
Total Fat (g) 9 14% Cholesterol (mg) 25 8%
Saturated Fat (g) 1.5 8% Sodium (mg) 650 27%
Trans Fat 0 Potassium (mg) 240 7%
Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 4 Total Carbohydrates (g) 47 16%
Monounsaturated Fat (g) 3 Dietary Fiber (g) 2 8%
Protein (g) 16 Sugars (g) 14
Diet Exchanges 1 1/2 Lean Meat,2 starch,1 other carbohydrate,1/2 Fat
Ingredients:
Blanched spaghetti (water, semolina), cooked breaded chicken tenderloins (chicken tenderloins, water, seasoning (soy sauce {soybeans, wheat, salt}, dextrin, salt, fructose, yeast extract, maltodextrin, flavoring, medium chain triglycerides, modified cornstarch, dried chicken broth, chicken fat, sesame oil, dried carrots, butter), soy protein isolate, modified food starch, roasted sesame oil, sodium phosphates, salt. battered and breaded with: bleached wheat flour, water, yellow corn flour, sesame seeds, salt, modified cornstarch, leavening (sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), skim milk, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, dextrose, yeast, dried garlic, dried onion, egg solids, paprika and annatto extract, paprika extract. breading set in vegetable oil), water, plum sauce (sugar, salted plums (plums, salt), water, rice vinegar (contains wheat), modified cornstarch, spice, citric acid, sodium citrate, chili pepper, xanthan gum (contains wheat and soybean)), green beans, red peppers, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), modified cornstarch, garlic puree, sesame seeds, dehydrated soy sauce (soybeans, salt, wheat), vinegar concentrate (rice vinegar, corn syrup, natural flavor), spices.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID: mariahan
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Member: Maria
Location: West Bend, Wisconsin
Reviews written: 178
Trusted by: 19 members
About Me: Hope to be back to reviewing soon.....
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