Review: Lean Cuisine Comfort Classics Baked Chicken

One of the frozen entrees in Stouffer's "comfort classics" product line is Baked Chicken. It is advertised as "Tender roasted chicken tenderloins served on a bed of herb seasoned cornbread stuffing with a savory gravy. Accompanied by creamy whipped potatoes with a dash of paprika." This Lean Cuisine meal sells for about $3 and the package weight is 8.5 ounces.

Nutritional Information
240 calories
4.5 grams fat
650 mg sodium
34 grams carbohydrate
15 grams protein

The Lean Cuisine entree is intended to cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes after removing it from the box and slitting the film cover. Alternately it can be warmed in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes but it is not meant to be put in a toaster oven. There are 5 Weight Watcher points for this lean cuisine meal.

Presentation
I cooked the baked chicken meal in the microwave for the recommended time. It was thoroughly heated when I took it out, but the first thing I noticed was that the presentation is different from the picture on the box. The food is in a divided tray with two sections. The sections were almost equal with one being only slightly larger than the other. The smaller side contained the whipped potatoes which did have a red stain of paprika on the surface. The portion looked to be about a third of a cup. The slightly larger section of the tray contained the chicken and cornbread stuffing. Two small pieces of white meat chicken - much smaller than the picture on the box - were surrounded by about two spoonfuls of stuffing and a bit of gravy. Both pieces of chicken together would cover only half the palm of your hand. Actually, the chicken and stuffing combined might cover the palm of a woman's hand.

Taste
The taste was adequate. The cornbread and gravy had a nice natural flavor while the chicken was a bit tough. The potatoes were improved by the paprika but still a bit bland. They did lend an air of "comfort" to the dish, which seems to be the premise of the comfort classic line.