Amy's Tamale Verde Black Bean, Review

I found out from following Amy's Kitchen on Facebook that my local Von's grocery store (and all Von's) was having a sale on Amy's products. I made sure I made it over to Von's before the sale ended. When I got there I was surprised to find more Amy's options than just the Enchilada whole meals that I was use to finding. I found they also had the Tamale Verde Black Bean and decided to buy a couple for the sale price of $3.

Amy's Tamale Verde Black Bean comes with one large tamale and a side of organic Spanish rice made from brown rice. The Organic corn masa covering of the tamale is nice and moist and not at all dry, which you might expect from a microwave meal tamale. It almost melts in your mouth. The inside is filled full of black beans and vegetables, like zucchini and corn. I often have experienced vegetable tamales with too much corn that it over powers the tamale. This tamale is not at all like that. The vegetables and black beans are in just the right amounts, none over powered each other, even the masa is a perfect thickness. The tomatillo sauce that tops the tamale is very mild to taste. If you expect a stronger tomatillo taste you might be disappointed. I personally would have liked just slightly more tomatillo sauce to add just a slightly more stronger flavor, but it is still very tasty. The Spanish rice on the side is richly flavored with tomato, bell peppers and spices. It is nicely cooked and not dry.

The Tamale Verde can be cooked 3 different ways, either the microwave, conventional oven or a toaster oven. I cooked it in the microwave and was surprised to find microwaving by directions required 2 cooking steps. I'm not complaining that easy fast food was a tiny bit not as easy. I was just surprised. It says to cook it 4 - 5 minutes and then stir the rice and then cook it another 3 - 4 minutes on medium. I'll have to say I have no idea how to turn my microwave to medium. I always just leave it on what it is on and cook. I figured now is as good of a time as any to learn but by the time I got to the second step I forgot and just hit the minutes and cook buttons. I only cooked it for an extra 2 minutes instead of 3 - 4 minutes, like recommended. Even with my slight cooking alterations it still came out great.

As expected from Amy's all the ingredients are real. Every ingredient would be something you would buy at the grocery store or your local farmers market for that matter. This meal is also organic, vegan and gluten-free. Nutrition wise the Amy's Tamale Verde has 330 calories and 10 grams of fat per entrée. Even better it has 7 grams of protein and a whopping 12 grams of fiber. It also has 20% iron and 8% calcium. The sodium is a bit high, especially if you are watching your sodium, at 780 milligrams. It is not surprising for a frozen meal though. It might even be less.

Amy's has done it again with these black bean tamale verdes. The are flavorful and very filling. I love them and will be buying them again. If you like green tamales I highly recommend you giving these a try.