Roots Natural Kitchen

This place is fairly new to Newark, and it has just one other location (so far?) at the University of Virginia. They serve "bowls", which are basically rice or greens with different veggies, proteins, or add-ons like cheese or pita chips on top, plus a variety of dressings (or just a squeeze of lime or some oil or vinegar). They have a variety of premade options with quirky names, as many places do, but you can also create your own bowl, too. That's what I do, since they do have almonds, chickpeas, and a variety of beans, plus a pesto dressing. No serious peanut or other nut ingredients, though. Anyway, I like to get kale or spinach with brown rice and avocado, brocco, sweet potato, corn, and a squeeze of lime. Sometimes I add chicken as well. This is a really filling meal and it also is pretty healthy, so I appreciate that it's around! This place is also hoppin', so I'm guessing it'll stick around.

Overall
Cost: 6/10 (ranges from 6.75 for just veggie to 8.00+ for chicken)
Taste: 7/10


Q says: Jefe! [Editor's note: El Jefe is a popular premade option!]

Lean Cuisine Chicken Enchilada Suiza

Overall, this is one of my favorite Lean Cuisines, although I have to admit it's mainly because of the sauce. The rice and enchilada themselves are both pretty good, but not great, and pretty dry. Luckily, there is a good amount of "sour cream sauce" which is nice and spicy/cheesy and makes everything taste great. I really like it. The chicken inside the enchilada isn't fresh, chunky chicken, it's quite smooshy and processed, but that's fairly typical for this kind of enchilada. Honestly it doesn't have much flavor on its own, and even the rice is fairly bland despite the corn and peppers in it. The sauce is really good though!
Oh, and allergy tip - there's a very similar Smart Ones frozen meal called chicken enchiladas suiza, and it has a nut allergy warning, so don't buy that one!!!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 8/10

Lean Cuisine Garlic Chicken

This Lean Cuisine is one of my favorites - in fact, it's one of my favorite frozen meals! That it's healthy is a bonus. It steams in a bag in the microwave and then you just pour it into a bowl, and it's always cooked just right. The meal consists of bow-tie pasta, chicken, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, and maybe some other veggies that don't stand out all in a tasty cheesy-garlic sauce. The veggies are good quality and the pasta is too. I will admit that the chicken isn't the best quality chicken - it's a little "processed"/cardboardy, but the sauce usually masks this deficiency. The portion size is decent, especially for a lean cuisine, and I'm usually satisfied afterwards. I will definitely buy this one again!




Overall
Cost: 5/10 (But if it's on sale, 7/10)
Taste: 8/10

Lean Cuisine - Chicken Chow Mein

I don't know exactly how "chow mein"y this is -- there aren't any noodles in it -- but since I love chinese food, I take all the non-allergenic opportunities I can to sample it, even if it's a laughable imitation.
Anyway, this is a pretty small dinner for hungry people like myself, but I guess that's the point, isn't it? And for a healthy meal, it tastes pretty good. Not too flavorful, but it's not completely bland. There's a fair amount of chicken per rice and the sauce is pretty good. The vegetables are good as well - I like the carrots and waterchestnuts. No mushroom or bamboo though! I buy this pretty often, so I'd recommend it!

Cost: 6/10
Rating: 7/10

Laura says: "I don't like vegetables". Thanks, Laura.