03 March, 2010

Healthy Frozen Meals: Healthy Choice Sweet & Spicy Orange Zest Chicken Revisited

A while back, Dave and I sampled one of Healthy Choice's Cafe Steamers and were horrified, shocked, and slightly amused to find that  the "Orange Zest Chicken" meal we had bought tasted like a trip to the dentist's office: minty, sweet, and not much else. You can read the original review here. We chalked it up to something gone awry on the packing line and I said that if I had the opportunity, I'd taste it again.

After enjoying a freshly-purchased Sweet and Spicy Orange Zest Chicken, I can safely say that this thing is delicious. The chicken is tender and juicy, the veggies done to perfection, and the sauce has a sweet undertone of oranges and a spicy kick of hot red peppers. Whatever was wrong with the first one I tasted was not present in this one. I'm extremely happy to say that this may be one of my favorite Cafe Steamers I've had so far.
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4 comments:

Eating The Road said...

Wow...this is good to know, but I wonder what made the first experience so much different. Maybe a third tasting is in order.

Dave said...

Lynnafred likes the Orange Zest Chicken so well that she's bought more of them. She's also got an upcoming post about the differences between HC Orange Zest Chicken in the older packaging and the one in the newer packaging - apparently they tweaked the recipe when they changed the graphics, and she did a side-by-side tasting to compare them.

So, she's definitely got that third tasting down.

This is turning into a lot of effort for a frozen meal. =)

Lynnafred said...

@Eating The Road: Dave and I agree that there must have been a problem or mix-up on the manufacturing line. There was no hint of mintiness in this particular Orange Chicken.

@Dave: I do this because I love to eat.

Stella said...

Frozen meals made on an assembly line is an idea that was born in one of the darkest circles of the underworld-beware! Nice review though, Lynnafred.