by Marianne Plunkert
Overall rating: 4.5 of 5
Meal Description and Cooking Instructions
I was looking forward to my breakfast on the first day of the program. I had noted that it was Huevos Rancheros Scramble, which is one of my favorite types of breakfasts. I was supposed to add a serving of a non-fat dairy product of my choosing (and supplied by me) to the meal.
I was disappointed when I first opened the meal. It came packaged in a two-compartment plastic tray, with a very small whole wheat flour tortilla in one section and the filling in the other. The filling was a mixture of egg whites, salsa, diced tomatoes, green and yellow chilies, kidney beans, and jalapeno peppers according to the ingredients list on the package. (I was unable to identify all of these individual items in the glob before my eyes.) The tortilla appeared dry, and the filling looked like a fairly puny serving, although it certainly proved ample enough to fill the small tortilla.
The instructions said to remove the tortilla from the tray, microwave the filling on high for 1 minute, and then roll it into the tortilla. One minute in my microwave wasn’t quite long enough, so I nuked it for another 10 seconds. I elected to have plain, non-fat yogurt as the nonfat dairy accompaniment.
Huevos Rancheros Scramble
My General Impressions
I had been looking forward to this meal, but neither the tortilla nor the filling looked particularly appetizing. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I tasted it, however; the entrée proved to be remarkably good.
Despite its appearance, the tortilla did not taste dry; in fact both its taste and texture were comparable to those of tortillas that I’ve been served in restaurants. And the filling was very flavorful, with just the right amount of spice. It was not fiery hot, like some similar meals I’ve had, which I appreciated. Although I love hot and spicy foods, I don’t like them when they’re so hot you can’t really taste the food. It makes me wonder what is being disguised—rancid meat, perhaps?
The meal didn’t look to be very filling, but I wasn’t hungry again until lunch, even though I had a very active morning. I’m not sure this would have been the case had I not also had the yogurt with the entrée, however.
Nutritional Content
The Huevos Rancheros Scramble is a fairly healthy meal. It has 180 calories, only 25% of which are from fat. It offers 18 grams of protein. Total carbs are 15 grams, with a healthy 3 grams of fiber and only 1 gram of sugar. It also provides 10% of the recommended daily dose of calcium, 4% of Vitamin A, and 2% of Vitamin C.
This entrée isn’t big in fruit and vegetables. If you count tomatoes as a vegetable rather than a fruit, as I do, it contains no fruit at all. There are no dairy products to speak of in the entrée itself either, aside from some of the ingredients listed in making the tortilla shell. The dieter-supplied nonfat dairy product provides a serving from this section of the food pyramid, however.
Food Rating/Quality
On a scale of 1 to 5, where “5” is excellent, “4” is good, “3” is fair, “2” is unpleasant, and “1” is awful, I rank the Huevos Rancheros Scramble as a “4.5.” It tasted fresh and was moist and flavorful, with just the right amount of “kick” to it, but it did not look very appealing, either in the plastic tray in which it arrived or on the plate. I think improving the appearance of the tortilla would go a long way towards remedying this.
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