Smart Ones Fruit Inspirations Honey Mango Barbeque Chicken

April 22, 2008 | Reviewer: Guest Reviewers

Smart Ones Fruit Inspirations Honey Mango Barbeque Chicken Price: Free/$2.56 (on sale)
Serving: 9 oz.
Calories: 240 per serving
Fat: 5%, 3.5g
Cholesterol: 11%, 30mg
Sodium: 21%, 490mg
Protein: 9g
Carbohydrates: 11%, 34g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 14g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 Points

Smart Ones says: White meat chicken with diced mangoes in a honey barbeque sauce and orzo pasta

Chaviva says: Oh Smart Ones, you’ve finally done it! A Smart One I will look forward to purchasing in the future. My only two beefs on this chicken meal are that

It lacks any fiber. At all. Note zeros above.
The barbeque flavor is completely missing.

Luckily, I chose this dish because I was stoked about the idea of a mango sauce. I cooked the package in the microwave according to the instructions and after it’s few minutes of sitting idle, I dove in. I was trying to decide whether the bbq flavor was meant to be in the sauce, which essentially just looked like a mango chutney, or if it was some type of flavor cooked into the chicken. Either way, the flavor was not apparent, though there definitely was a zing and bite to the chicken and mango sauce. The orzo pasta was delicious, though I have no gauge as I’ve never had orzo pasta before. It has a slightly cheesy flavor to it, which I didn’t mind. I’m pretty sure the mix-ins were spinach and red pepper, and I dumped the orzo pasta over into the
leftover mango sauce.

I think the pro to this dish was that it wasn’t all watery like a bulk of the Smart Ones I’ve purchased. That extra watery goo just rains on my eating healthy parade, and it often turns me off from an entire brand. But this one was spot on. The mango sauce was not watery and didn’t require any mixing in with spare moisture left by the chicken. The orzo also lacked any overly liquidy content, making it just darn near perfect.

I’ll admit that I ate this dish super fast – it was that good. I could probably go for a whole additional one, but at 5 points it pretty much rings in as a good dining choice for Weight Watchers folks. I imagine that the point value would drop dramatically if there were some fiber enjoined in this fruity concoction. So I implore you, pick up this fruit creation and enjoy. And avoid those other Smart Ones (especially the Chicken Santa Fe, oy, that gets a 1 star on my radar, if even that).

Now to go find some more fruits to fill the void left by the consumed mango sauce … oh, and sorry for the poor photo quality – my small, convenient digicam is broken, so the blackberry is serving as my on-the-go camera for work photos. I can guarantee that the colors of the mango sauce and the chicken and orzo are much more appetizing and bright than this photo portrays!

[The folks at Smart Ones’ PR company sent coupons for free meals to reviewers as part of their ‘Fruit Inspirations’ promotion. Yes, we got this meal for free. Actually, Chaviva got one for free. I paid for one and until I saw this review, I was trying to figure out how I could trick George into eating it. -Ed.]

comments

9 Responses to “Smart Ones Fruit Inspirations Honey Mango Barbeque Chicken”

Janette on April 22nd, 2008

Wow. I hated - hated this meal! I really liked all of the components except the sauce. I did manage to get it all down (it was the only thing I had at work) but the after taste and thought sort of made me nauseous. The sauce was awful (imo). They used to have a really great meal with actual bbq sauce that was sort of what I expected.
Laura Bee on April 22nd, 2008

Well that looks about as appetising as Kibbles N’ Bits. Even the box picture is off-putting. I guess looks really can be deceiving.

I admit I’ve been frightened of these Smart Ones…Fruit Inspired meat dishes just seem like a bad diet food joke. I just don’t see how I can justify a dinner that has more grams of sugar in it than a serving of cookies. Still I’m intrigued. I’ll probably give one of these a shot…

Also: Chaviva is just about the coolest name ever.
SideshowJill on April 22nd, 2008

When I was 11 my grandma took us to Disney Land. i got to ride the areoplane! After the first half hour I grew board with what the middle seat had to offer and fell asleep. When I woke up the air was permeated with so horrendous a stench I’ve failed to experience anything like it since.

Well, until now. Thanks Smart Ones!

You’d think the smell alone of this awful entree would have been enough to keep my at bay. Not me though! This was my only remaining lunch choice after theiving bastards had cleared the community fridge of anything else I had purchased for the week. Besides, its often difficult for me to fight the compulsion to consume something Ive paid for - even if they were only 4 for 11 dollars at the safeway.

I decided to ignore the repulsive stench and gave the meat and fruit a stir. Then I took a bite. I chewed twice and bleched that nastiness back out into the little catfood dish it comes in. That crap went into the trash.
Crow on April 22nd, 2008

Fruit with chicken? That isn’t Amero-Chinese? Blech blech blech blech blech.
Lisa on April 22nd, 2008

Wow, a Smart Ones gets 5 stars? White is black, up is down, and nothing makes sense anymore.
Dez on April 22nd, 2008

Wow, how did that manage to have 0 fibre? I thought one of the defining characteristics of WW foods was they were all supposed to be colon blow. Even their little gummy candies have fibre. What’s up with that?
Becka on April 23rd, 2008

I have a deep seated issue with fruit mixed with savory components, add in the chicken and this is fear inducing! I can’t believe it got 5 stars but I’ll take your word for it.
Gino on April 24th, 2008

5 stars?!? Really?

I’m an experienced diet food eater, a dedicated Smart Foods eater (Once you realize what’s good, it’s better than anything from Healthy Choice and most of the Lean Cuisines) I cannot disagree with your review more.

The mango barbecue sauce covered chicken tasted like someone dumped some crappy “Tropical” air freshener into it. The orzo had the consistency of cucumber seeds.

I’ve eaten some weird and crappy things due to eating diet frozen foods at work but I literally took 5 bites before I had to throw it away. So freakin’ gross.

If you want a good Fruit Inspirations entree, try the Orange Sesame Chicken. It’s 7 points, doesn’t seem like it comes with a lot, but at least it’s tasty.

Also, stay away from the Turkey Dinner “Fruit Inspirations” entree as it was almost as bad as the Mango Barbecue Chicken, but at least I was able to choke it down.
Gail on May 6th, 2008

I spent a work-week trying the whole Fruit Inspirations line and blogged about it on The Skinny (www.sun-sentinel.com/theskinny). The Honey Mango Chicken was my least favorite of the bunch. The Orange Chicken was yummy in a cheap Chinese food way.