Review: Quiznos Pesto Turkey Torpedo

Quiznos recently added a new type of sandwich to their menu, the Torpedo. Thirteen inches long and very skinny for only $4.00. I decided to try the Turkey Pesto Torpedo. Turkey, Mozzarella cheese, Basil Pesto sauce and red wine vinaigrette with diced tomato and chopped lettuce. The flavor was good, but there were a number of things wrong with it. First, there wasn't much meat on it, just a thin line of scraggly slices of turkey, less than you would get on a normal six inch sub. Second, there wasn't much in the line of toppings. The bread is really skinny and there isn't much space for them. Third, the bread didn't stay together, I had to hold it with both hands to keep it from falling apart. I think the slogan should be "You pay less because you get less" or maybe "less meat, more bread". This sandwich really is mostly bread. I'd rather spend the extra 79 cents and get the eight inch sub, or get a subway footlong for $5. (650 calories, 18g fat 29g protein, 82g carbs) You can save a hundred calories by skipping the dressing. For comparison, their regular turkey and cheddar sub (without dressing) has 69g carbs.

Another review is here.

Lean Cuisine: Fiesta grilled chicken

One of Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Cafe classics. Seasoned and grilled chicken tenderloins with santa fe style rice and beans. There wasn't much chicken, but it was flavorful, with lots of spices on it. The chicken was slightly hard, but not unplesantly so. There are red and yellow bell pepers with the chicken and they came out a bit soggy.

The rice and beans were pretty basic, not many beans, lots of rice, with a little redness due to tomato, but not much flavor from that. There was a reasonable amount of cheese melted across the rice, which was a plus and some flavor, but I couldn't quite identify what it was.

The cooking instructions were disapointing, 50% power for 7.5 to 10 minutes. that is too large a range to consistently get right and the 50% power makes it take to long.

I was mildly disappointed in this, I was really hoping for it to be better and the presentation was good, but the taste, though not bad, just didn't hold up. I will probably get this again at some point, but it won't be high on my list. (250 calories; 7g fat; 27g carbs; 19g protein; 25% sodium; 5 weight watchers points)

Odwalla Bar: Super Protein.

This food bar has 16 grams of protein and 8 essential amino acids. It is crisper and harder than most other odwalla bars, although it isn't cruchy. There is a touch of sweetness, but not much in the way of identifiable flavors. The primary source of protein is soy, there is soy protein, soy nuts, soy butter, soy oil, soy protein crisp rice, and soy lecithin. The other major ingredients include grape juice concentrate, rasins, and date puree.

This energy bar is more like a Cliff bar than a power bar, but I didn't care for it all that much. I'm sure that if your primary concern is getting protein, this is a good way to get it, but I prefer the other, softer, more flavorful odwalla bars. (230 calories; 4.5g fat; 31g carbs; 16g protein; 7% sodium; per 2.2 ounce bar)

Lean Cuisine: Fetteccini Alfredo

One of Stouffer's Lean Cuisine "One Dish Favorites". Thick Fettuccini noodles covered with lots of creamy cheese sauce, with little green flecks of parsley. The noodles came out good, thick and a little bit chewy without being hard or gummy. The sauce, as you might expect, is not like home-made, full of fat sauce, but it isn't bad, and it does have a decent flavor and is reasonably thick. There is lots of sauce, which is good since it contains most of the flavor of the dish. There is also a suprising amount of protein, and of course, lots of carbs from the noodles. Overall, this was tv dinner was better than I was expecting, a worthwhile lunch dish. (280 calories; 7g fat; 40g carbs; 14g protein; 28% sodium; 6 weight watchers points)

Smart Ones: Chicken Santa Fe

A Weight Watchers "Smart Ones" Bistro selection. Chunks of grilled chicken with zucchini, bell peppers, onions, and black beans. With a tomato based sauce that has a hint of spiciness. The chicken is good, firm and textured and it still tastes like chicken. The vegetable mix is mostly small diced zucchini. The box claims a full serving of vegetables and I believe it, vegetables make up most of the meal. The main flavors are the tomato-y sauce and the zuchini, which dominates the other vegetables and was a bit over-cooked, The flavors all mingle together so don't expect to be able to taste the black beans or bell peppers. I liked the amount of protein compared to the amount of fat, but there really aren't enough calories for anyone to consider this lunch. There is also too much sodium, particularly given the number of calories. If you are looking for a microwave meal that has lots of vegetables (and vegetables besides corn) this one fits the bill, but overall, I don't think it was worth it. (140 calories; 2.5g fat; 11g carbs; 20g protein; 33% sodium; 2 weight watchers points)

Michelina's Lean Gourmet: Chicken Alfredo Florentine

Fettuccine with creamy alfredo sauce, white chicken and spinach. The alfredo sauce is creamy with a light flavor. It tastes like it has more fat than it has. The noodles came out good, a little firmness, and not all stuck together. The chicken was ok, a little hard and too salty, and not enough of it. The spinach added a decorative touch, but there wasn't enough of it to have any impact in the flavor. This is another one of those budget tv dinners that you can get on sale very cheap and when you look at it that way, it comes out pretty well. I like having some of these in the freezer for when I need a little extra food, but it doesn't make a good full meal. (270 calories; 6g fat; 38g carbs; 14g protein; 30% sodium; 6 weight watchers points)

GatorAlley: Gator Chicken and Cheese

GatorAlley Cocktail Bar & Grill is a new restaurant at 7525 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD. I had the Gator Chicken and Cheese sandwich. It is thinly sliced grilled chicken with american cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onions, and green peppers, lettuce, tomato, and mayonase all on a sub roll. It was served with french fries. This was really good, much like a chicken cheese steak, but better than most. The chicken was tender and tasty, I think they grilled it before they sliced it, which is a good idea. The cheese melted in with it and made all the topping stick. I wish they had other choices besides american cheese, but that is a small complaint. The toppings were great, everything went well together. The french fries were just your standard steak cut fries, nothing special about them.

Banquet: turkey meal

Mostly white meat turkey and gravy with dressing mashed potatoes and peas. I don't usually eat banquet meals because the amount of fat and lack of vegetables, but this one is an exception, it actually has green vegetables and more protein then fat. (Yes the little things excite me.) And it was on sale at a very cheap price. This has a three segment dish, Peas in one, mashed potatoes in another, and in the largest, slices of turkey with gravy and croutons. The peas were standard peas, nothing special, but nothing bad about them either. They had some flavor and were firm, not mushy at all. The potatoes were smooth and creamy. I expected them to be dry and only edible when mixed with the gravy, but that was not the case. (of course, they were better when mixed with the gravy.) The turkey had been chopped and formed into circles, like lunch meat turkey, then sliced and the slices then cut in half. I got two half slices that were light meat and one that was dark meat, thus fulfilling the "mostly white meat" prophecy. The gravy was tasty but salty. They say it comes with dressing (or stuffing), but really they were just plain croutons. The turkey was not all that flavorful and tasted like lunch meat. For the price it was pretty good, and probably better than most banquet microwave meals, but it wasn't a standout dish. (200 calories; 8g fat; 27g carbs; 14g protein; 42% sodium)

Michelina's Lean Gourmet: Penne Primavera

Whole wheat pasta with vegetables in a light alfredo sauce. This is a basic dish, mostly pasta, with some veggies (mostly brocoli and squash) with cream sauce. It is fairly plain and uninspired with lots of carbs. It does have redemming qualities, first, like it says, it is fairly lean, 240 calories, with only 7g fat. I don't think it has enough protein though. Second, it is pretty cheap. I think I got it on sale for a dollar, making this Penne Primavera less then half the price of most lean cuisine or healthy choice microwave meals. Although it is plain, it is pretty decent, so factoring cost, this turns out to be a pretty good meal. Since I often end up eating two microwave entrees for lunch if they don't have many calories, this makes a great second dish, cheap and reasonably tasty. (240 calories; 7g fat; 35g carbs; 9g protein; 22% sodium; 5 weight watchers points) (Michelina's web site listed different nutrition information from what was on my package)

Lean Cuisine: Roasted garlic chicken

Chicken tenderloins in a roasted garlic sauce with spinach in a creamy parmesan sauce. One of Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics. This microwave entree only has 180 calories, which isn't enough, but when you eat it you would think it has more. There is a good amount of chicken and lots of sauce. The sauce is good and accents the chicken well. I think the highlight of the dish is the spinach. The sauce is creamy, the spinach doesn't taste like most frozen spinach does, and there are carrots in it! They add a nice color and makes it more distinctive than your standard creamed spinach. This is easily one of my favorite lean cuisines. If it had enough calories to make it a full lunch it would be perfect. (180 calories; 7g fat; 9g carbs; 21g protein; 28% sodium; 4 weight watchers points)

Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza

This no-cheese pizza has organic shitake mushrooms, sweet onions, and roasted red peppers. I have a bit of trouble considering something without cheese to be pizza, but this is a very good dish. The onions are the best part, they are toasted and marinated and very flavorful. The artichoke hearts also are a positive addition to this Amy's pizza. Cooking time is 8-11 minutes in a 425 degree oven (410 calories; 14g fat; 11g protein; 62g carbs; 33% sodium; per pizza)

Trader Joe's: Spinach and Feta Pita Pizza

A pita crust pizza with spinach, feta cheese, and red onions. This is pretty tasty, The spinach isn't too watery like sometimes spinach pizza is, an dthe feta cheese flavor comes through well. However, there isn't much to it, for some reason it seemed like it wouldn't make a full meal, this is despite having 440 calories (lots of bread in this pizza. Beware, the serving size is only half a pizza, who are they trying to kid. Cooking time is 12-15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. (220 calories; 6g fat; 32g carbs; 9g protein; 24% sodium; per half package)

California Tortilla: Spicy Sunset Salsa Chicken burrito

California Tortilla is a small chain of restaurants in Maryland specializing in burritos. They have many non-traditional burritos as well as salads and tacos. One selling point is that they have at least 30 different hot sauces you can put on your food. I tried the Spicy Sunset Salsa Chicken, a low-fat burrito. it is a large burrito containing grilled mesquite chicken, mexican rice, black beans, salsa vinaigrette, fresh salsa and lettuce. As with most places, the rice makes up a good chunk of the burrito, but there is also lots of chicken. It is pretty good, with lots of different flavors. I think the rice could have been better, but other than that, a tasty lunch.

Ethnic Gourmet: Chicken Biryana

Seasoned white meat chicken cooked with cauliflower, carrots, and green peppers, served over brown rice. The rice came out a bit gooey, I think because of the yogurt sauce on it. The chicken was ok, the vegetables were pretty good. I am pretty sure that one of the vegetables was yellow squash, but that wasn't listed on the ingredients, odd. I don't have alot of experience with microwave indian food, so I don't know how it compares, but I do know that it wasn't nearly as good as an indian buffet. Ethnic Gourmet lists this as All natural, no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives and minimally processed. (390 calories; 12g fat; 54g carbs; 16g protein; 45% sodium)

Lean Pockets: Pepperoni Pizza

A sandwich pocket filled with cheese, tomato sauce, and peperoni. This is really tasty. There is alot of peperoni and it's flavor oozes into the cheese, so every bite really tasts like peperoni and cheese. Like the other lean pockets, there is a problem, it isn't lean! At 4.5 ounces it is more of a snack than a lunch, but it still has 280 calories in it. You can get microwave meals that have twice as much food in them and the same number of calories. (280 calories; 7g fat; 43g carbs; 13g protein; 30% sodium)

Campbells Chunky Healthy Request: Grilled Chicken & Sausage Gumbo soup

The soup base is a little spicy, as is the sausauge. I liked this aspect of it. They didn't overdo the spice, but it was clearly there, nipping at your tounge. There is lots of rice, and a few tomato chunks and celery chunks. The sausauge was good, but the chicken didn't live up to the billing, there were small, tastless chunks with no sign of grilling. On balance, this was a good soup, I would gladly get it again. And, since it is a Healthy Request soup it isn't all that bad for you either, the whole can (2 servings) has only 5 grams of fat and 280 calories. (140 calories; 2.5g fat; 21g carbs; 8g protein; 20% sodium; per half-can serving)

Lean Cuisine: Lemon Chicken

One of Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Spa Cuisine Classics: lightly breaded chicken breast with rib meat in lemon glaze with brown rice risotto. The breading on the chicken was a bit soggy, but, true to the package, it was lightly breaded, so the sogginess, though noted, wasn't a negative. The chicken itself is sliced thin, which also goes well with the light breading, they play well together. The lemon glaze wasn't all that great, it was lemony, but also thick and surupy, which I didn't care for. the rice risotto was dry and a bit crunchy, I didn't care for it, however, mixing the brocolli in with the rice was a good idea. Overall, I think this is an OK microwave meal. (300 calories; 9g fat; 40g carbs; 15g protein 24% sodium; 6 weight watchers points)

Lean Cuisine: Beef Portabello

One of Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics: Roasted beef with mushrooms and red skin whipped potatoes. This frozen dinner has a winner of a sauce. A good flavor that goes well with the beef and mushrooms. The beef is decent, it is tender but it doesn't have much flavor on its own, that's ok because it gets the sauce's flavor. The mushrooms were less impressive, not quite rubbery, but not quite the right texture for a portabello mushroom either. The potatoes were good, although a bit dry, mixing sauce in with them makes them much better. I also have problems with them being called whipped, more like smashed, there were large chunks of potato in them. I liked how they were done, but they're not whipped. It weighs in at only 220 calories, I would like it to have a few more. Overall, this is a good bit of frozen food. (220 calories; 6g fat; 25g carbs; 16g protein; 28% sodium; 5 weight watchers points)

Quiznos Sub: Sierra Smoked Turkey

Hickory smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato, red onion and raspberry chipotle sauce. Quiznos subs are toasted, which means that before they put on most of the condements (like lettuce and tomato) they run it through a toasting oven that warms up the meat and toasts the bread. It makes for a good taste and slightly warm meat. This is a basic turkey sub, but it is one of their 'lite selections', which hopefully means fewer calories and fat. I was disappointed to find out their website doesn't have nutrition information on it, so I don't know how lite they really are. The only thing unusual on the sub is the raspberry chipotle sauce. I almost ordered my sub without it because I don't like sweet sauces on my main course, but I got it and am pretty pleased with it. It wasn't very sweet and had a bit of a smokey flavor, it keeps it from being 'just' a turkey sub.

Lean Cuisine: Deep Dish margharita pizza

Part of Stouffer's Lean Cusine casual eating classics menu. A single serving pizza with chunky tomatoes, garlic, basil, and tomato sauce with extra virgin olive oil. Pizza usually has lots of cheese, thus, lots of fat. Doing pizza the low-fat way is tough. If you look at the picture on the box, the pizza shows lots of
cheese. That is deceptive, there isn't very much cheese on the pizza, and what cheese there was, wasn't evenly spread out. There is lots of crust (it is deep dish afterall) a reasonable amount of tomato sauce and diced tomatos, aand a little bit of cheese. The box said to put it in for 2:30 to 3:30, but for an extra crispy crust, put it in for an extra 30 seconds. I like crispy, so I cooked it for 3:30, which ended up drying the crust out (but it was crispy) I probably should have cooked it a little less. (lesson learned).
The pizza itself was decent, you wouldn't confuse it for pizza parlor pizza, or even pizza delivery, it still has lots of calories for what you get, with a 25% coming from fat. If you really crave pizza, this could fit the bill, but I wouldn't make it part of my regular menu. (320 calories; 9g fat; 48g carbs;
14g protein; 23% sodium; 6 weight watchers points)