Review: Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan Meal

I continue to be amazed at the diversity of high-caliber frozen meals that actually aren't absolutely loaded with calories and fat. I just tried the Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan dinner and am impressed with both the flavor and quality of this meal. Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan offers penne pasta, small portabella mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes with a scant layer of parmesan cheese to top the whole meal off.

Sounds good to you? It is.

Preparation

The Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal can be cooked in either a microwave oven or conventional oven. The meal cooks up in under 5 minutes in a microwave and needs to be stirred after the first 2-1/2 minutes; the portabella spinach parmesan meal must then stand in the microwave for about 2 minutes before being enjoyed.

In a conventional oven, the Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal takes 28 to 30 minutes to cook in an oven preheated to 350 degrees; the meal must stand in the oven for 2 minutes afterward. Be sure you place your Healthy Choice meal on a cookie sheet!

At any rate, the meal is very easy to cook and I had no problems heating it up either. Just be sure you adjust these cooking times as necessary; the preparation tips here apply to an 1100-watt microwave.

Flavor

Healthy Choice is doing a great job with its line of healthy frozen dinners. Of course, none of their meals are as hefty as the Hungry Man type frozen dinners you'll see in the grocer's frozen case one or two steps over, but when you take a look at the calories, fat, and sodium counts in those larger meals, you realize the important trade offs between 'going big' versus 'going healthy.' You might wind up with a smaller meal when picking up something like the Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal, but the health benefits - and the flavor - are nearly unbeatable for the price.

The Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal is delicious. The flavor of the portabella mushrooms soars through this meal, and to provide a little more flavor depth is a good splash of a scrumptious extra virgin olive oil-based sauce that teems with a mild herb flavor. The penne pasta base makes this meal a solid plate that is truly satisfying. Chunks of tomato give the whole meal a fresh essence.

It's safe to say that the Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal has truly become one of my favorites. I definitely plan to buy it again.

Nutrition Panel

OK, so with all this flavor you're probably wondering what the nutritional label looks like. Is this Healthy Choice meal really healthy?

Overall, yes - especially when compared to other frozen dinners in this price range ($2 to $3). The only area you might be a little wary about is the sodium. At 600 milligrams (mg), this meal represents about 25% of the average person's daily recommended intake of sodium.

Be sure you check out the dietary fiber count - yes, you actually get some in the Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal!

Here's the rest of the nutritional rundown for the 9.4-ounce Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal:

Calories 260
Calories from Fat 70
Total Fat 7.5 grams
Saturated Fat 2.5 grams
Trans Fat 0 grams
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 gram
Monounsaturated Fat 3.5 grams
Cholesterol 10 mg
Potassium 290 mg
Carbohydrates 37 grams
Dietary Fiber 5 grams
Sugar 2 grams
Protein 11 grams
Vitamin A 15%
Vitamin B6 6%
Vitamin C 4%
Vitamin E 6%
Calcium 15%
Iron 10%
Thiamine 8%
Riboflavin 8%
Niacin 6%
Folic Acid 15%
Phosphorus 20%
Magnesium 15%
Zinc 10%
Manganese 40%

The Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan meal is a winner in my opinion - this meal offers truly good flavor, it's nutritionally sound and, at less than $3 at most grocery stores, it's affordable, too. Be sure you check out this great Healthy Choice offering today!

Resources

Personal and first-hand knowledge and experience
Healthy Choice Portabella Spinach Parmesan carton