by Marianne Plunkert
Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5
Meal Description and Cooking Instructions
The luncheon entrée on the final day of my second week on the program consisted of a nice-sized, breaded tilapia fillet, accompanied by about ¼ cup of basmati brown rice and black beans and ¼ cup of golden corn kernels laced with red peppers and scallions.
The meal arrived in a 2-compartment plastic tray with the fish and Mexican corn in one section and the rice and beans in the other. The heating instructions called for a microwave time of 1 to 1 ½ minutes, so I cooked mine for 1 minute 45 seconds to accommodate for the fact that I have a lower-wattage microwave.
I was to provide a fruit accompaniment. I added ½ cup of canned light mixed fruit.
Tortilla-Crusted Tilapia with Rice &Beans and Mexican Corn
My General Impressions
The meal looked very appealing on the plate. The tilapia was a beautiful golden brown and looked to be a generous serving. Both of the side dishes were ones that I particularly like, and they looked delicious flanking the fish filet.
The tilapia was every bit as good as it looked. Wheat bread crumbs and yellow corn meal were used in the breading and, along with some scallions, garlic and other spices, provided a wonderful flavor. The filet itself was fork-tender and tasted fresh.
Both the texture and flavor of the Mexican corn were also good. Some of the breading used for the tilapia had flaked off into this side dish, giving it the barest hint of a fish flavor. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but it turned out to be quite tasty.
The rice and beans dish was the weakest link in this meal. Although the basmati brown rice had a good flavor—subtly nutty—it had a stickier texture than is normal, and there was a paucity of beans.
Nutritional Content
This is one of the higher-calorie eDiets entrées. Even so, it contains only 310 calories and only 60 of those—less than 20%— are fat calories. The meal has a much higher carbohydrate content than I prefer, however, at 35 grams. The entrée contains 3 grams each of fiber and sugars.
It contains a healthy serving of protein, however—30 grams. And it supplies 15% of the daily average recommended dose of Vitamin A, 10% each of Vitamin C and iron, and 4% of calcium.
Aside from the milk that is used in the preparation of this entrée, there isn’t any food from the dairy section of the food pyramid. My mixed fruit cup provided a serving of fruit, the Mexican corn a serving of vegetables, the breading and rice a serving of starch, and the fish a serving of the protein.
Food Rating/Quality
This meal gets a 4.5 out of a possible 5 rating from me. It was as appealing to the palate as it was to the eye. The tilapia was tender and tasted fresh, and the breading used on it was very flavorful. The corn kernels in the Mexican corn had been cooked properly so that they retained a bit of crunchiness, and that side dish was also nicely seasoned.
The only part of the meal that I didn’t particularly care for was the side of rice and beans. The rice had a good enough flavor, but it had been overcooked, and there were only a few measly beans in the dish.
Leave a Reply