South Beach Diet Penne & Chicken in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Broccoli

April 30, 2008 | Reviewer: Sarah

South Beach Diet Penne & Chicken in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Broccoli Price: $2.25
Serving: 10.5 oz.
Calories: 300
Fat: 18%, 12g
Cholesterol: 17%, 50mg
Sodium: 32%, 760mg
Protein: 25g
Carbohydrates: 9%, 27g
Fiber: 32%, 8g
Sugar: 6g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Smart Ones says: Breast strips with rib meat and penne in a creamy red pepper sauce with broccoli.

Sarah says: In comparison to my review of Smart Ones Roast Beef, where I was pleasantly surprised by a meal that I expected not to love, this meal was a sharp turn for the worse. I think that my expectations were simply way too high - this is yet another case of a horribly misleading and delicious-looking cover gone wrong. Everything about this little frozen meal called out to me. Whole grain wheat pasta? Check! Broccoli, my favorite frozen vegetable? Check! Some sort of sauce that’s sorta-creamy-and-sorta-spicy? CHECK! In addition to all of that, South Beach is apparently not eco-friendly, as their meal comes in a box that takes up approximately double the space that my Smart Ones takes, even though the meal is just 1.5 ounces heavier. This was yet another factor in my high expectations, as I extremely hungry when I selected the gargantuan parcel out of my freezer at lunchtime. Big box = big taste, right?

Not so much. The first let-down of the meal was the broccoli. I always eat the veggies first, because I’m a slightly OCD weirdo who likes to separate their foods and eat them in order from “least favorite” to “favorite.” It’s pretty hard to mess up broccoli, but somehow South Beach has managed it. I can’t even tell you what it was, either. The broccoli just tasted slightly off. Like maybe it had been frozen and thawed and re-frozen one too many times.

Then there was the pasta, which I had hoped would redeem my rather pathetic vegetable experience. I think the biggest disappointment was with the “Red Pepper Sauce,” which I had expected to taste . . . oh, I don’t know . . . peppery? Instead, it just tasted like sauce. Just generic sauce, that you might find in a big plastic container located in an underground hatch on a mysterious island in the South Pacific. The pasta has a strange texture, but that’s par for the course when you’re dealing with whole wheat pasta, and I really felt like it might have been enjoyable (the chicken was just fine, too) if there had been non-Dharma sauce on top of it.

Oh well, I guess that’s what you get for buying any meal with the word “diet” on the front of the package. Too bad I have two other South Beach items left in the freezer to try.

[The South Beach Diet is now known as South Beach Living. Also, if you’re into Lost but you’re never sure if this week’s episode will be new or a rerun, I recommend you check out Is Lost a Repeat?, a highly accurate, superbly informational website. -Ed.]

comments

8 Responses to “South Beach Diet Penne & Chicken in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce with Broccoli”

christine on April 30th, 2008

I tried this one in the past and agree with what you said. I have tried SB kung pao pork and that was quite good. I find South Beach is mostly hit or miss, with more misses then hits…..
Crow on April 30th, 2008

Breast strips? Spicy *and* saucy.
Emily on April 30th, 2008

SB meals are not very good in my opinion, but their pizzas are great when cooked in the oven!
Anna on April 30th, 2008

I haven’t been eating frozen foods lately. Cooking (argh). But I remember this one from a few months ago and didn’t like it either.

Sarah, my husband separates his food too. That’s pretty common. But don’t you find that eating your least favorite food first leaves you with a cold favorite? I don’t know. I’d eat the favorite first while it’s good and hot…..but that’s just me.
rob on April 30th, 2008

I go the other way, from most favorite to least favorite.

I eat every single fry before touching the entree.
Amanda H on May 1st, 2008

This use to be one of my favorites, when it first came out there was no separate between the chicken and the broccoli so the broccoli got done evenly and everything tasted great.. not a days the broccoli taste pretty bland and terrible and the dish seems to have gotten more “watery”! Why did they have to mess with it !?
Ginia on May 5th, 2008

I save my favorite food for last, too — I quickly wolf down the healthy stuff (veggies!) so I can enjoy the rest of it.

This meal *does* look like it came from an underground hatch somewhere … does it come with a free Apollo chocolate bar?
Sarah on May 13th, 2008

Ginia - I wish! That might have made the whole experience worth it.