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If you enjoy eating food for the flavor, pass this right on by. |
The last time I was in the market for
some frozen foods at Dollar Tree, was the first time I laid eyes on
Main St. Kitchen: its sleek packaging standing out among the sea of
poor-quality meats and other frozen dollar oddities. Now, a month or
so later, I was in the market again, looking to grab a quick meal for
work. And wouldn’t you know it that they had introduced not one,
but two new flavors since then, including this fettuccine alfredo
with broccoli, the first and only option I’ve seen from them that
completely omits any form of meat whatsoever. How would this one
fare?
My interest was piqued right off the
bat after pulling out the microwaved entree, when I noticed that the
sauce is generously spread over the noodles, which look as they
should (like fettuccine noodles). There are also quite a few
good-sized broccoli chunks spread throughout, making the overall
appearance look rather appetizing for a cheap frozen meal.
Unfortunately, the taste is the
tradeoff for the appealing initial impressions: the sauce is thin and
tastes virtually nonexistent. Somehow, even though there appears to
be a lot of sauce on the entrée, most bites still seem to taste like
plain noodle, as if the sauce is merely a mirage that disappears the
moment you put it in your mouth—the end result is as bland and
disappointing as that makes it sound.
Alas, the real “star” of this dish
is the broccoli, which is never a good sign…for anyone, really.
(Think about it: what dish has ever made you say “Wow, this
broccoli is really good!”) It’s cooked well, with a nice texture,
a light touch of “crunch” (though not so much that it feels
undercooked) and even a little bit of juiciness. That the veggie in
the dish is not only the only thing giving it flavor, but the sole
thing that prevents it from being a completely bland mess of
nothingness, is a testament to just how...bleh this whole thing is.
At $1 per 9 oz package, which is an
ounce more than similar name brands, this is a fairly decent deal,
and at only 220 calories per package, it’s also a surprisingly
decent choice for those watching their figures, at least as far as
Dollar Tree frozen meals are concerned. And it doesn’t just stop
there: one package contains just 3g of fat, 10mg of cholesterol, 3g
of dietary fiber, and a whopping 11g of protein, which is pretty
excellent for a TV dinner. Of course, the salt content (500 mg) is
still pretty high, but lower than most regular name brands.
If you’re on a diet, or just looking
for a healthy option, this might suffice; anyone looking for things
like “flavor” or “deliciousness” should keep right on
looking.
Overall: 4.5/10. An uninspiring—though
somewhat healthy—frozen meal whose main noteworthy quality is an almost complete lack of flavor (save for the broccoli). It does have much less fat and cholesterol
than many other TV dinners, and is probably the healthiest frozen
thing inside a Dollar Tree store, though, so it potentially fills a
niche. The $1 price point is pretty good for non-discerning folk—but
for anyone who actually wants to enjoy the taste of their
sodium-packed frozen sadness should pick up almost literally anything
else.