Price: $1.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1/3 box, 1 cup prepared
Calories: 220
Fat: 7%, 5g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 24%, 570mg
Protein: 8g
Carbohydrates: 13%, 39g
Fiber: 10%, 2g
Sugar: 8g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 points

Near East says: A delicate and flavorful dish consisting of 100% semolina wheat couscous combined with savory roasted garlic, onion and olive oil.

Abi says: Dear readers, please allow me to completely revolutionize your dinner time. If your are unfamiliar with couscous, don’t be scared. If you are familiar with couscous you’re nodding your head right now thinking ‘Dang, why don’t I make couscous all of the time?!?!’ I am appalled that I haven’t written about couscous before now.

For the uninitiated, couscous is basically tiny pasta balls. It is not a grain, like rice or bulgar, but essentially super-chopped spaghetti. But it is 18 times better than spaghetti because it is the easiest pasta ever invented. Also, it will not get marinara sauce on your white shirt. Oh, you are saying ‘What is easier than boiling water, putting in pasta and then draining it?’

Consider this couscous workflow:

• Measure 1 1/4 cups of water into a pot. Add a glug of olive oil and the seasoning packet, bring to a boil.
• Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat.
• After five minutes lift lid from pot, fluff couscous and serve

How insanely easy is that? You can’t even think of anything easier! Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is more difficult! Okay, faster - but you have to use a knife!

Now, this couscous from Near East is ‘instant’ couscous, which accounts for its super-speedy cooking time. Near East carries a wide variety of instant couscouses, but I have to say that the Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil variety holds a very special place in my heart. I like it because each box comes with enough seasoning that I don’t have to flavor the other ingredients I add to the dish. Shown here are chicken and peas. I’m also enamored of the serving size. Sure, 1 cup of food doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but once you add a chicken breast and a cup of vegetables you’ve got a remarkably filling, colorful, delicious meal for three.

Or if there are two of you, you can put the 3rd serving in a refrigerator box (anyone want to buy these for me so that I can stop using Ziploc containers?) and one of you can have it for lunch the next day. Couscous reheats beautifully.

You might be confused by my enthusiasm now, but once you give yourself over to the cult of couscous you’ll finally understand what fueled the Islamic Golden Age.*

*This statement is speculation based on a combination of claims in two Wikipedia articles. It should in no way be construed as a definitive statement on the existence of couscous in 7th century Arabia.

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

1. It lacks any fiber. At all. Note zeros above.
2. 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.]

Price: $2.85 at Wal-Mart
Serving: 6.75 oz.
Calories: 330 per serving
Fat: 11%, 8g
Cholesterol: 7%, 20mg
Sodium: 25%, 630mg
Protein: 22g
Carbohydrates: 14%, 43g
Fiber: 21%, 5g
Sugar: 6g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Lean Cuisine says: Grilled white meat chicken, sun dried tomatoes, red peppers, cheese and creamy pesto sauce in a soft flatbread

Andrea says: Wow guys, wow . . . I think this sandwich actually broke one of our microwaves with it’s awesomeness. Seriously, a minute into it’s 2:45 journey into my stomach the microwave just gave up and bowed down to the frozen meal gods.

My first reaction after taking this out of the box was “Woah, that’s actually a good bit of stuff here.” As I was watching it turn in it’s second microwave trip (after it killed the first microwave), the cheese started to melt and the pesto-y goodness started to ooze from beneath the massive amount of chicken, peppers, and tomatoes. The break room filled with the aroma of herbs and bell pepper, and my mouth was starting to salivate. The first bite produced an explosion of flavor and texture from the chicken that actually tasted like chicken, to the cheese that actually strung from the sandwich a la a pizza commercial or that Beefy Cheesy Taco Bell commercial that sends chills down my spine. The roasted red peppers were abundant in flavor and quantity, the sun-dried tomatoes were chewy yet provided a slight sweetness and the flat bread was soft, thick, filling and tasty! Unlike most nuked breads that are usually soggy and super dry at the same time, Lean Cuisine’s flat bread maintained it’s chewy structure that we all know and love in our flat breads. I guess if I had to write one negative thing about this meal, it was the amount of red peppers.. but I think that’s just me, if you’re a pepper person you’ll probably love the abundance of peppery love on this sandwich, complete with grill marks might I add.

I will definitely pick another Lean Cuisine Pesto Chicken flatbread, for the price it wasn’t bad and (hey!) I’m not hungry anymore! If you need more than a Lean Cuisine, I found it paired well with Doritos and grape Kool-aid.

Price: Free from Gits*
Serving: 1/2 pouch, 5.3oz.
Calories: 234 per serving
Fat: 19.4%, 12.6g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 23.1%, 554mg
Protein: 8.6g
Carbohydrates: 7.2%, 21.5g
Fiber: 2.8%, 0.7g
Sugar: 0g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Per Serving, 12 Per Pouch

Gits says: During the days of British rule in India, Dal Makhani found favor with the connoisseurs of food — the Mughals and the Nawabs. A blend of black gram, Bengal gram and red kidney beans are cooked on a slow charcoal fire for up to 16 hours and then delicately tempered and seasoned with exotic spices and light cream.

Andrew says: I love lentil soups and I love kidney beans and I love Indian food. So here’s an Indian lentil soup with kidney beans. Is there any chance I won’t love this?

Well, if there was a chance, it was a tiny one. This is a fantastic dish executed excellently by Gits. It’s like regular lentil soup if lentil soup had a lot more spice and life to it. There are little strands of ginger, onions, a touch of garlic, chilies, coriander, cumin and Fenugreek leaves all dancing together in a dark reddish, creamy ballroom of flavor.

And it really is surprisingly creamy. The third ingredient listed is cream and it really provides a nice, smooth, almost cheesy base for the spice and beans. It helps bring all the flavors together on the palate rather than having them hit at different times. I really enjoy that effect. The packaging says Dal Makhani is India’s favorite lentil dish and I must say it’s already mine as well.

But because I’m white, I rarely have flatbread on hand to enjoy a soup like this with (not that it NEEDS the bread, but it always helps), so I got out my bag of Santitos white corn tortilla chips and dunked away. It was delightful! The fusion of Mexican and Indian cuisine … sounds like a recipe for a long stay on the toilet, but I think this works anyway. Wait until they hear about this in Mumbai!

*When I sent Andrew food he did not know which items were free from producers and which were ones I’d purchased. -Ed.