The Gannet

Another lunch, another micro meal scoffed

Sainsbury's Italian: Meatballs with chargrilled pepper & tomato sauce

We've been reviewing a lot of ready meals this week - but it's the end of the month so we're not splashing out on restaurants and the like.  And we're busy - so busy that I didn't even bother to take today's lunch out of the plastic tray and put it on a plate before photographing it.  Shame on me.

So, another day, another 15 minutes spent shoveling down a ready meal - today's variety, to give it it's full name, is Sainsbury's Italian: Heat & stir : Meatballs with char-grilled pepper & tomato sauce.  What we've got is pork & beef meatballs - nicely spiced with black pepper and garlic, and some herbs.  Good and meaty too - no filler!!  The egg trotolle pasta is hearty and comes out nicely al dente if you follow the instructions correctly (3 minutes in the nuclear oven, 1 minute standing).  Remember when pasta ready meals were all about limp, sodden noodles?  The microwave scientists seems to have sussed that one out.  A few char-grilled red peppers, some crunchy green beans and a light tomato and red pepper sauce.  Overall, it hit all the right notes for me.  575 calories, but a lot of fat (20g, and 6.5g of it saturated!) - which shouldn't be a problem, if you aren't eating brownies for breakfast (like me).  It filled me up, and is great value at the price.  Sainbury's is currently running a "4 for 3" special on all ready meals, too.

370 grams, £2.79
Sainsbury's Online Groceries

Sainsbury's Taste The Difference: Beef Stroganoff and Herby Rice

Supermarket ready meals have been the path of least resistance to people who are tired of the usual lunchtime sandwich fare so common in the UK. These meals, designed to be re-heated in a conventional or microwave oven, address a real need for people who are too busy to spend more than a few minutes preparing their lunch.

Overall, the meal made a good impression. Once cooked and served on a plate, the colours were nice and the dish had a pleasant aroma. The sauce was quite good, very rich, and tasted of it's ingredients: mushrooms, sour cream and a touch of brandy. The rice turned out quite fluffy, if under-seasoned, and the meat itself was very tender. The sauce contains both single cream and sour cream in differing proportions totaling one quarter of the sauce.  However, one real failing of this meal can be found by reading the percentages on its ingredients list: "Cooked Herb Rice (43%), Stroganoff Sauce (37%), Marinated Mey Selections Beef (20%)". For a dish in which beef plays the leading role, Sainsbury's has been quite stingy with the actual meat.

One should note that the rice requires the addition of water before heating. This is simple to do, but not usually required of ready meals, so one should pay close attention to the directions on the sleeve. I don't really see the richness of the sauce as a problem--it's what one would expect from something labeled "stroganoff" and ready meals have built-in portion control. Still, people conscious of their fat intake should note that this meal contains 20.9 grams of fat--8.2 of which are saturated. The entire meal weighs in at 450 grams.

The "Taste the Difference" line may be marketed at people who value flavour over price, but at £3.49 Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Beef Stroganoff and Herby Rice is an economical lunch option for almost anyone. The paltry portion of beef brings the final score down for me.

Gannet rating: 7/10

Sainsbury's Super Naturals: Piri piri marinated chicken & basmati rice

Sainsbury's range of Super Naturals (tm) are "bursting with tasty ingredients, no artificial additives".  I've tried the range recently in my never-ending quest for the perfect micro lunch.  I'm one of those folks who is really sick of the options for lunch near my office.  We even have a delightful sandwich wagon man who comes around -- the only problem being that while he's lovely, his sandwiches are dry versions of very dry, tired old things.   My company supplies a kitchen/canteen area fully stocked with stove/oven, microwave, and full-size fridge, but I rarely have the energy or time to prepare anything fresh.  Nor do I ever seem to be able to carve the extra time out of my evenings to pack something nice up for the following day.  So, my quest for micro meals is what I am left with.

Of course, I'm demanding.  I want something hot, quick, nutritious, non-calorific, and not full of E-numbers.

The Super Naturals (tm) range includes Chicken & Prawn Paella, Jerk Chicken with sweet potato and sweetcorn mash, Smoked Salmon Salad, Lemon & Basil Chicken, Mediterranean Vegetable Pasta, Gnocchi Roasted Vegetables, Chilli Ginger Salmon, Caribbean Prawn Curry, Beef In Red Wine, and Spaghetti and Meatballs, all at £2.99 for about 400 grams.  (They are on special 4 for 3 offer this week.)

So, Piri piri Chicken, or "Garlic, chilli & paprika marinated chicken with char-grilled red peppers, baby