Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Organic Bistro Bowl Thai Style Red Curry with Beef

Our reviews of offerings by the folks at Organic Bistro have had mixed results. While those that we have put to the test have fared OK, about half have been only barely acceptable and the other half pretty good. This week we look at two more to see if they can go two for two.

The first up was their Savory Turkey. The aroma is full of rosemary and savory notes. Not anything like Thanksgiving, mind you, but the flavor doesn't disappoint. The sauce on the turkey is pretty good. Not too salty and not too overpowering. The rosemary comes through well as does the mushroom flavor in the sauce. The turkey is a bit dry and tough even by today's frozen food offerings.

While the turkey does let this down a bit the side dishes help make the overall meal much better. The lentil and rice pilaf is good with savory thyme notes that complement the mushroom sauce well. The quinoa and lentils are cooked as well as one might expect from a frozen meal having a nice chewy texture. The side of green beans are slightly tough with that "I am a green bean but I have been frozen" texture that frozen green beans just suffer from.

The numbers are good for a meal with 370 calories: 1.5 grams saturated fat, 7 grams of fiber and only 240 mg sodium. A good solid convenience meal (as frozen meals go).

The Thai Style Red Curry with Beef is also good (so we'll give them the two for two this time). The beef is tender but some pieces had bits of gristle that were off-putting. The small chunks of beef are served with brown rice, sweet potato, carrots and green beans in a mild Thai curry that's flavored with chilies, turmeric and lemongrass.

The veggies are cooked well for a frozen meal, the texture of the rice is good and the meal works. The numbers are not quite as good, with 630 mg sodium, but there's only 320 calories and 5 grams of fiber.

As frozen meals go these are in the good to pretty good category. Four of the five we've tested have been acceptable, which is better than most.

Reviewed: February 11, 2011