Lean Cuisine Southwest-style Chicken Panini

May 16, 2006 | Reviewer: Abi

Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 sandwich, 6 oz.
Calories: 280
Fat: 11%, 7g
Sodium: 30%, 730mg
Protein: 20g
WW Points: 6 Winning Points
Diet Exchanges: 2 Lean Meat, 2 Starch

Lean Cuisine says: Strips of mesquite-seasoned white meat grilled chicken, grilled green peppers, diced tomatoes, onions and Monterey Jack cheese with a zesty Southwest sauce on sourdough bread

Abi says: While I was able to visually identify all of the aforementioned items, I would say that the overpowering taste in this meal is flavored chicken. Stop. I know you’re thinking about seasoned chicken right now. Seasoning and flavoring are NOT the same. Seasoned chicken is what you find in fajitas and on the box of Stove Top Stuffing. Imagine those seasonings! You can see the spices lovingly shaken across the chicken, gently caressed into the meat. Flavored chicken, on the other hand, looks like chicken (though Amy did point out that it was gray), yet has an otherworldly taste. In this case, the otherworld is a smokey, mesquite filled planet. I would call that planet Southweststyleland.

Tangent: I was at Macy’s the other day looking for a chocolate fountain when I came across a panini grill. Did you know that you can get a shoddily made panini press for about $40.00? Well, you can. You can also get a George Forman Grill for about $20.00. With the prevelance of George Forman Grills in America, why would anyone need to buy a panini press? We need more kitchen appliances that do double duty. Not just making relish and salsa in the same mini Cuisinart, but grinding coffee beans and making perfectly chunky guacamole too.

That said, these panini aren’t very good and do not become properly grilled, even on the revolutionary grilling tray included in the package. Yes, Lean Cuisine calls it a ‘Revolutionary’ grilling tray. It is currently impossible to correctly grill bread in the microwave. Yes, you can make the crust hard, but you will never be able to get perfect grill marks unless you follow the ridiculously complicated steps that Jess took in making a Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom Panini.

comments

5 Responses to “Lean Cuisine Southwest-style Chicken Panini”

Abi on May 15th, 2006

I think that we in the office are spoiled by access to real (and delicious) panini nearby.
Anna on May 16th, 2006

I know these are not the same as a real homemade panini, but I’ve grown eerily attached to them…..and I have a fancy panini maker.
LauraFries.com on May 23rd, 2006

I love me some Southweststyleland.
Sylko on August 28th, 2006

I can get the grill marks in my home microwave, but not in my work microwave.

Also, the Chicken Club panini has interesting rubber bacon bits. I say rubber because no matter how long I chew them, they don’t get any smaller. Fascinatingly gross.
Chris on April 14th, 2007

I’ve tried these before - Although I know they aren’t even remotely close to real panini I find myself craving them at 2′oclock in the morning….

Chris