Lean Cuisine Chicken in Peanut Sauce

April 3, 2006 | Reviewer: Abi

Price: $1.50 at Safeway
Serving: 9 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 11%
Sodium: 26%

Lean Cuisine says: Roasted chicken tenderloins in a flavorful peanut sauce with garlic served with crisp water chestnuts,shoestring carrots,and snap peas over whole-wheat pasta

Abi says: The first ingredient in this meal is “Blanched whole wheat Spaghetti”. I had to google blanched, because I wasn’t sure if it was the same kind of blanching as happens when you’ve seen a ghost or take the skin off an almond or boil vegetables briefly then plunge them into cold water.

I found this line: Blanch the spaghetti in boiling salted water for approximately 6 minutes Why do they say ‘blanch’? Could it just be boil or cook? Is there an unnamed cold-water plunge component?

I have now gone back and checked on other ingredient lists for other frozen meals. Healthy choice says “Cooked Pasta” and then gives the ingredients. Ethnic gourmet says “Cooked Rice”. Annie Chun cooks the noodles, but she doesn’t mention that.

Back to the review.

What took me by surprise was not the spaghetti or the watery peanut sauce. It was the flaky chicken. Yes, flaky. YOu know how you’re supposed to cook fish until it flakes? Well, that’s how you tell it is done. And I certainly knew that my Lean Cuisine Spa Cuisine Classic was done when I could flake the chicken.

Generally speaking, the term “Flaky Chicken” involves some sort of a batter or bread product. The number one item on Google when I searched “Flaky Chicken” was a recipe for Flaky chicken wraps posted by the Wisconsin Energy Cooperative. Their flaky chicken involves the use of Pillsbury Grands! Refrigerated Flaky Biscuits.

http://www.wecnmagazine.com/recipes/main/chickenwraps.html

Chicken should be moist, tender, and juicy. Peanut Sauce should not just be made from peanut butter (see ingredient list), but should contain a smidgen of coconut milk for flavor, and enough with the blanched spaghetti, already. Finally, there are a lot of green items on the front of the box. Green items, be they peas or beans should come with the meal, not as a serving suggestion.