Kashi is determined to make eating healthy so easy and so delicious that no one will have an excuse for eating junk food any more.
In addition to their new line of frozen pizzas, Kashi has introduced a line of frozen entrees to be used at your convenience. The only instructions that I’ve been able to find on the boxes are for microwave ovens, and there is a specific warning against using a toaster oven to heat the food.
As someone who is trying to incorporate whole grains into my diet, as well as increase my intake of vegetables and other healthy items, I was very excited to see that Kashi had branched out from their cereal empire. I immediately picked up a box of their Chicken Pasta Pomodoro to try.
I was a little skeptical since I’ve not had much luck with whole grain pastas in the past. In general, they tend to be too floury and lacking in firmness and texture. Also, I am not a fan of squash or zuchini, both of which are in Kashi’s Chicken Pasta Pomodoro.
However, upon trying it, I was very pleased with the over all flavor. The tomato, garlic, and basil sauce had a nice, full flavor. The tomato was not overly strong, the garlic present but not overpowering, and while I could definitely taste the basil, I could wish that had been a bit stronger.
The grilled chicken breast was surprisingly tender and flavorful. As it appears to be the same frozen cooked chicken breast strips that you can buy anywhere these days, I’d expected the chicken to taste exactly like those. But it did not. To be honest, Kashi could easily do quite well by selling a line of chicken dishes using this recipe, if it didn’t violate their motto “The Seven Whole Grain Company.
And how did I feel about the red peppers, and the dreaded yellow summer squash and zucchini? Quite happy, actually! While Kashi did not change my mind on whether I like squash and zucchini, both were actually crisp and sweet, not at all mushy, and were perfectly cooked. Given some extra time, Kashi may just win me over to the squash side yet.
Of course, with such a pleasant experience for my first trial of the Kashi entrees, I immediately tried several more. I found the Chicken Florentine (I did mention how much I loved the chicken, did I not?) to be delicious. With spinach, sweet red peppers, and baby portobello mushrooms over the 7 whole grains and sesame with orzo pilaf and topped with a garlic white wine sauce and shredded parmesan cheese, the flavors mingled beautifully. The sauce was not overpowering, but was definitely a flavorful contrast to the whole grain pilaf. While whole grains are by their very nature a bit on the chewy side, the kashi entrees make the most out of their texture.
I then tried the Pesto Pasta Primavera, and while I mourned the loss of my beloved chicken, the yellow carrots, sweet red peppers and peas added a lovely texture to the seven whole grain penne pasta, and played off the basil pesto sauce with shredded parmesan cheese very well.
I was only a little disappointed with my Sweet & Sour Chicken with 7 whole grain & sesame pilaf. The sweet and sour sauce overpowered the flavors of the chicken, roasted green beans & yellow peppers with edamame. What I could taste of the roasted green beans was excellent, and I hope they use them as an ingredient in more of their entrees, particularly because of how crisp they were and the deep green that they retained. But the sweet and sour sauce did nothing to work with the chewy texture of the whole grain pilaf, and did not in itself have a pleasant enough flavor to make up for the loss of the other flavors available. Of course, sweet and sour sauce is a highly subjective taste, and your milage may vary.
The Kashi frozen entrees are not only rich in fiber and high in protein, they are also a good source of vitamins. For example, the Chicken Florentine has a 50% daily value of Vitamin A, and the Sweet & Sour Chicken contains 80% of the daily value of Vitamin C.
A single portion of the Kashi frozen entrees that I tried had a calorie count ranging from 280 to 320 (the Sweet & Sour Chicken), and the portions are quite large for frozen entrees. Whole grains are known to be filling, and the portions left me feeling satisfied for hours afterward.
While the $3.50 purchase price may seem a bit high, especially when compared to alternatives ranging in the $1-2 range, keep in mind that the cheaper alternatives are often smaller portioned and almost always are much higher in calories and lower in nutritional value. Plus, in Kashi’s devotion to the environment, they’ve reduced their packaging size, but not the food portions, by 11%. Now that’s what I call responsible eating.
