by Marianne Plunkert
Overall rating: 2.8 of 5
Meal Description and Cooking Instructions
This breakfast entrée arrived in a 2-compartment plastic tray. A generous serving of turkey quiche sat atop a pool of coulis in one section, and 2 small wedges of seasoned red-skinned potatoes (skin on) occupied the second section.
I was to augment the meal with a nonfat dairy item. I chose 6 ounces of nonfat, plain Greek yogurt.
The heating instructions indicated that the entrée should be microwaved on high for 30 to 40 seconds. I increased this time to 50 seconds to adjust for the fact that my microwave oven is a lower-wattage model. As it turned out, this was not long enough.
Cajun-Style Turkey Quiche with Red Pepper Coulis & Home Fries
Although the food seemed warm enough to the touch, when I began eating I discovered that both the quiche and the potatoes were only tepid in the middle.
My General Impressions
When I transferred the meal to my plate, I spooned the red pepper coulis over the turkey quiche. It had the appearance and consistency of salsa. It even tasted like a mild salsa; it wasn’t very spicy at all. Bits of tomato, red pepper, and onion gave it an appealing texture.
The quiche itself was also mildly seasoned. Its primary ingredients were egg whites, shredded cheeses, and ground turkey, but I didn’t detect much of a turkey flavor. I had expected this dish to be spicier, given that the title referred to it as “Cajun-style” although I know that “Cajun-style” doesn’t always translate to “spicy.” Regardless, the quiche tasted moist and fresh and was flavorful, even without the red pepper coulis accompaniment.
The potatoes would never be confused with “home fries,” as suggested in the title of this entrée. They tasted like wedges of a baked potato that had been seasoned with sautéed onion bits and some other spices, including oregano and thyme. There was too much of the latter spice in my opinion; it overwhelmed the taste of the potatoes. Needless to say, I didn’t clean my plate of them.
Nutritional Content
Although this breakfast entrée is relatively low-cal with a total of 170 calories, 70 of those, or 41.1%, are from fat. It is fairly low-carb, however. There are only 12 grams of total carbs, with 1 gram of dietary fiber and 2 grams of sugars. Protein weighs in at 12 grams.
The entrée supplies 20% of the recommended average daily intake of Vitamin C and 15% of Vitamin A. It also provides 6% of the daily calcium requirement and 4% of the iron.
There is no fruit component to this meal. My yogurt and the cheese in the quiche provided over one serving of dairy. The peppers, tomatoes and onions used in the meal provide some vegetable content, but nothing close to a full serving of that food group.
Food Rating/Quality
On a scale of 1 to 5, this meal rates only a 2.8 with me. Although the taste and texture of both the quiche and the coulis were good, the coulis tasted no different from the mild salsa that comes in a jar at my grocery store, and I couldn’t discern any turkey in the “turkey quiche.”
The potatoes neither looked nor tasted like “home fries,” and the over-generous (in my opinion) used of thyme made them unpalatable. I couldn’t finish even what was a rather small serving of them.
I would advocate increasing the recommended cooking time for this meal. Although I always add extra time to accommodate my lower-wattage microwave, 10 to 15 seconds is usually adequate. That wasn’t the case for this entrée, so I suspect that the 30 to 40 seconds indicated for other microwave ovens may be insufficient, too.
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