Stouffer's Bistro meals are a bust

Supermarket sampler
Published: Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005 1:46 p.m. MDT
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Stouffer's Corner Bistro. Seafood Scampi, Monterey Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Grilled Rosemary Chicken, Garlic Chicken Pasta and Chicken Carbonara. $3.99 per 12- to 14-ounce box.

Bonnie: Having recently given a rave review to Lean Cuisine Spa Cuisine Lemongrass Chicken frozen entree (something I do to a frozen meal about once in a blue moon), I looked forward to testing Stouffer's latest line of restaurant-inspired meals. That was a mistake. Most were way too salty, especially the chicken breasts in the Grilled Rosemary, Monterey Chicken and Chicken Carbonara (although, I must admit, the Carbonara could pass for homemade).

I was also put off by the horrid, fishy odor from the Seafood Scampi, the cafeteria look of the Monterey Chicken, the watery and chewy mushrooms in the Garlic Chicken Pasta, and the separated fontina cheese pasta sauce in the Grilled Rosemary Chicken.

The only one of the line I could recommend? The comparatively good-tasting Sesame Chicken.

Carolyn: I don't eat Stouffer's Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice TV dinners because I'm worried about weight. I eat them because they're more interesting than full-calorie offerings from Swanson, Michelina's and even Stouffer's. Like Swanson, red-box Stouffer's has long been stuck in a time warp of macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and meat loaf.

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This new Stouffer's Corner Bistro line is finally giving "regular" TV dinner eaters a taste of the more innovative, ethnic-influenced dishes that restaurant diners and diet dinner eaters have been enjoying for years. In the case of the Corner Bistro Sesame Chicken and Carbonara Chicken dishes, this is true because these dishes are virtual clones of Lean Cuisine Cafe Classic meals. The difference? The calorie count, the serving size, and the more convenient and attractive presentation. Corner Bistro meals come in classy, black triangular dishes with a thick plastic cover that you don't have to cut before cooking. (You also don't have to open up and stir the dish mid-cooking, as with most other TV dinners.)

As for the brand-new recipes, although the shrimp in the Shrimp Scampi is a bit overcooked and the garlic butter sauce nothing unusual, it's still delicious. I also liked the Garlic Chicken Pasta, although not as well as the late, great Stouffer's red-box Roasted Chicken With Mushrooms that it resembles. The barbecuey Monterey Chicken and Grilled Rosemary Chicken were less distinctive, although OK. One way in which these best all other red boxes is their fresh-tasting and crunchy vegetables.

Would I buy the Corner Bistro version of the varieties that also come as Cafe Classics? Probably not, because I'm usually satisfied with the amount of food in a 200- to 300-calorie Lean Cuisine meal. But these 400- to 500-calorie Corner Bistro meals would be great for the many people who are not.

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