by Marianne Plunkert
Overall rating: 3 of 5
Meal Description and Cooking Instructions
The title of on the package of Day 5’s breakfast entrée, “Garden Vegetable Omelet with Crumbled Feta Cheese & Roasted Potatoes,” made my mouth water. I love omelets filled with crisp-tender chunks of vegetables. It is one of my favorite breakfast meals to order when I’m dining out.
The omelet and the potatoes were presented together in a single-compartment plastic tray.
The egg dish consisted of what appeared to be two to three egg whites, cooked omelet-style, with bits of vegetables in a light sauce served over it. I identified chickpeas, kidney beans, diced carrots, and zucchini and red pepper slivers. Four small-to-medium sized potato wedges (with skin) were off to one side in the tray.
Garden Vegetable Omelet
The directions said to microwave the meal on high for 30 to 40 seconds. I nuked mine for 50 seconds and found that in the time it took to transfer it to a plate and take a picture of it for this review, it had cooled considerably and was only tepid.
I supplemented the meal, as instructed, with a non-fat dairy product. My choice this morning was plain, non-fat yogurt.
My General Impressions
The vegetables provided the entrée with some nice color, which helped the visual appeal of the overall meal although some had spilled onto the potatoes, detracting a bit from their appearance. The texture of both the potatoes and the vegetables was very good. And that’s about all I can find good to say about this meal.
As I mentioned above, the meal was only lukewarm when I began eating it, which was no more than a minute from when I had taken it out of the microwave. I believe that while the meal appeared sufficiently hot when I removed it from the oven, the cooking time was not adequate to heat the potatoes and eggs through thoroughly, even though I had increased the time by 10 seconds.
And on top of that, the meal had only the slightest hint of flavor to it. It was far too bland for my tastes, even if it had been piping hot. I neither saw nor tasted any trace of feta cheese, although it was listed as one of the ingredients.
Nutritional Content
Of this breakfast entrée’s 160 total calories, 35 are from fat, which translates to slightly under 22%. It contains 12 grams of protein and 17 grams of carbohydrates, with 3 grams each of dietary fiber and sugars.
It is nutrient-rich, supplying 25% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin A, 15% of Vitamin C, and 6% each of calcium and iron. The meal has no fruit content, but the dieter supplies a serving of something from the dairy food group. It provides healthy servings of protein and vegetables, however.
Food Rating/Quality
The eDiets Garden Vegetable Omelet entrée is “fair,” at best, and I give it a “3” rating on a scale of 1 to 5. It tastes like what it is—a diet meal. I have purchased as good or better in the frozen food section of my grocery store, and at a much cheaper price.
Although it might not have been as visually appealing, I would have preferred that the vegetables be cooked with the eggs rather than served in a sauce on top of the omelet. And I would have loved to have tasted some feta cheese. I didn’t detect the slightest hint of it and wonder if it might have been omitted in error.
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