These delectable entrées and side dishes are quick to make and nutritious, too.
Best Refrigerated Entrée
Laura’s Lean Beef Pot Roast Au Jus ($6.49; laurasleanbeef.com) It’s hard enough to get a homemade pot roast to turn out tender. So the fact that you can cut this heat-and-eat version with a fork is just short of miraculous. After 15 or so minutes in the oven, you’ve got an ultralean entrée—110 calories and 4 fat grams per 3-ounce serving.
Best Grain Side Dish
Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice ($1.69) In the old days, you had to work hard to get your whole grains, spending a good 45 minutes to cook up a pot of brown rice. Now you can have it in 90 seconds—with no pot to scrub when you’re done. Tear open the plastic pouch, stick it in the microwave, and you have enough tender rice to pair with chicken, fish, or stir-fries.
Best Veggie Side Dish
Green Giant Select Vegetables With Tuscan Herb Sauce ($3.99) This medley of broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, and green beans will make meeting your daily quota for veggies much tastier. The key? Buttery garlic “flavor chips” that melt into a creamy sauce. Sounds weird, but the sauce tastes great, and there are only 2 grams of fat per ½-cup serving.
Best Frozen Pizza
Amy’s Mediterranean Pizza With Cornmeal Crust ($6.79) A generous wedge of this pie weighs in at 360 calories and 15 grams of fat—a small price to pay for what you get: a crust that actually gets crispy; organic veggie toppings; mozzarella, Parmesan, and fontina cheeses; and a tangy sauce of organic tomatoes and capers. Not quite pizzeria quality, but close.
Best Frozen Entrée
Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selects, Chicken Portabello ($3.49) Here’s one frozen dinner that won’t have you dipping into the snack jar an hour after your meal. Judge Phil Lempert applauds the generous (compared with most “diet” entrees) main course: tender pieces of chicken in an earthy mushroom sauce. Rice and vegetables and a chocolate-cherry dessert round out the meal, all for less than 400 calories.
