I work for an energy consulting firm, where we manage, design and evaluate energy efficiency programs as well as help utilities plan future energy demand needs and do numerous one off consulting jobs for utilities across the country. One of our programs that we manage for the local utility is a Demand Response program and one of the customers that we had signed up into this program was Amy's Kitchen. They are no longer in the program as they became a co-generation site but that's not important. I mention this because I'd never heard of them before we worked with them. Now I see their frozen meals all over. From Whole Foods to Target, everyone seems to carry their all natural ingredient meals. They've hit the big time.
I figured that their meals were going to be one of the high points I was going to get to experience on this journey of pre-made mac n' cheeses thanks to high quality ingredients that they pride them selves on using. It sure was an adventure... right off the path over the cliff into a flaming ball of carnage.
The Review
Brand:
Amy's Kitchen Rice Macaroni with Dairy Free Cheeze
Price:
$5.49 at Safeway
Packaging Description:Macaroni and cheese is a favorite comfort food for both children and adults. Unfortunately many people are not able to tolerate gluten, dairy and soy. After years of recipe testing, we have found a delicious dairy free cheeze to go with our tender organic rice pasta. This dish is so tasty that people will no longer have to miss our on their favorite "mac and cheese."
Preparation:
*Take the tray out of the box and remove the plastic wrap.
*Pull it out and mix it up with a fork. You'll probably notice that the center looks still semi frozen. It's fine, mixing it up breaks up the cold chunks and distributes the stuff that already got cooked around. I did notice that this was quite stringy, like a good mac and cheese should be. Promises of things to come???
*The instructions don't say anything else, but I say to let this sit for a minute or two. I've learned that It's best to do that when it comes to hot, semi liquidy foods that come from the microwave. Your tongue and mouth appreciate not being burned.
Taste:The first things I noticed as this was cooking was that it had a cheesy smell and when I pulled it out to mix it up that it was also stringy, like cheese should be. A promising start! Unfortunately thats the extent of the promise. Rice noodles are not like flour noodles. These are very chewy and almost gummy. They have a taste that I want to say is very starchy, but i'm not sure if that's quite the right word for it. The noodles just feel way over cooked, but i'm sure it's more because of the fact that these are rice noodles than anything else. The cheeze. Well this cheeze is interesting. It smells semi cheese like and sure acts cheese being all stringy, but it doesn't taste cheesy. It sure tastes cheese like, but there are other hints of something that I can't quite pin down. Letting this settle more didn't help anything and it just became a cold chewy mass. The cheeze also leaves you with a very interesting after taste that doesn't go away quietly.
Final Score:I'm sure that any readers who need gluten free or dairy free things will have faults with my score and for that I'm sorry. However this meal was horrible. I've seen some crazy vegetarian food stuffs thanks to having vegetarian coworkers and trying things like Chic'n nuggets are passable (though weird) and i'd eat them if I had to. This just wasn't. I think that there are people who feel that by going vegetarian or vegan they are instantly healthy. That may be, but only if you're eating nothing but fresh and unprocessed stuff. Those veggie patties are just as bad for you as the regular ol' beef patty due to the processing the soy and other things go through and into them. This mac n' cheese meal was vegan. It was also dairy free, gluten free AND soy free. That means that there is no cheese in it. That also means that it's got a different kind of pasta than most are used to. I accepted that and if I was vegan maybe this would rate higher but as none of us are born vegan, if given this meal they will not win any converts. Sorry cows, your job is to continue to make us cheese, potentially cruel or not. This meal sure as hell shows us we can't do it on our own.
The noodles were a gummy blob that just tasted very over cooked. Thinking about it it's almost like eating a gnocci (italian potato dumpling). The cheeze sauce was stringy and smelled right, but the taste was just off. Looking at the ingredient listing the base was a tapioca/arrowroot flour and lots of different pressed oils. My favorite cheeze ingredient was 'Vegan Natural Flavors'. I don't know what that means, but it's there! I was surprised that this meal was 540 calories and had more fat than ANY of the other frozen options i've got sitting in the freezer, including the other Amy's options. This is even higher in calories, fat and everything and it's got none of that pesky dairy (cheese & butter) that spikes the %'s in these other meals. The cheeze also gave me a funny after taste that took some time to go away. There shouldn't be an after taste in a meal like this. This is by far the worst mac n' cheese I can ever remember having. I normally would finish the meal off even if lack luster, but it was so bad that I stopped at 1/4 of the way through. It just wasn't worth the calories. Even if you're a vegan you need to avoid this at all costs.
Nutritional Facts:Serving Size 1 Package (227g)
Calories 520 Calories From Fat 190
Total Fat 22g (34% Daily Value)
Saturated Fat 5g (25% DV)
Trans Fat 0g (0% DV)
Cholesterol 0mg (0% DV)
Sodium 740mg (31% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 72g (24% DV)
Dietary Fiber 3g (12% DV)
Sugar 0g
Protein 8g
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