Although there are a few shortcomings, it's surprising just how "okay" the Banquet Select Recipes Herb Grilled Chicken Breast meal is.The chicken patty - a careful amalgam of chicken meat, textured vegetable protein, and spices - is not bad if a bit unreal and spongy in texture. The "serving suggestion" box art showed it with those painted grill lines ConAgra is so fond of, but my actual patty showed no such decoration. Even though I wonder how they can legally get away with calling this a grilled chicken breast (since it's so obviously not an actual breast of chicken) the flavor acceptable and the texture isn't really any worse than anyone else's processed chicken patty or nugget.
The patty sits on a bed of rice, and as always, the rice is almost perfect: individual, properly-cooked grains without any overcooked explody grains. ConAgra has really perfected the ability to reheat previously-frozen rice. Too bad they had to drown the whole thing in cheapish gravy, though. Although bland, there are hints of chicken flavoring along with a helping of bitterness, probably side tastes of things sage and thyme that are also present. I'd suggest cutting back on a few of the herbs and adding a bit more salt, but these things are already loaded with sodium and I'm sure ConAgra doesn't want to attract any more negative attention than they already do, what with being a huge soulless corporation and all.
The carrot-and-green-bean medly was fairly forgettable: tough beans and leathery carrots, though at least this is no fault of the manufacturer - I've never had very good luck with microwaving either of those veggies from "cooked and frozen" to "ready to eat" so I have a little sympathy for the kitchen staff that developed this meal for Banquet.
Overall, though, this is yet another acceptable cheap lunch from Banquet - it will fill you up and still be cheaper than a sandwich.
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Do you happen to have the ingredient list for the chicken?
ReplyDeleteOnly reason I ask is because I just watched a documentary on the BBC about processed meat and it totally blew me away. You hear things about reconstituted meat products and such but this really opens your eyes. I've never really been one to give a damn, I love fast food and I'd eat a Hungry Man for a meal, sure, but for whatever reason this made me stop for a minute. It's really kind of scary how little actual meat is in our meat products.
I hate those preachy types that tell people all about how their food is so bad for them and I'm not trying to be one of those. Hell I'm still going to eat a Big Mac. Here's a link about the show:
http://www.thelondonpaper.com/staying-in/tv/features/britain-s-most-disgusting-foods
It's weird what the government allows to be contained in a product and be labeled a certain way. Sometimes there are catchwords that allow it squeeze by....like "economy" or "product".