Fine Foods From the Freezer.

Taste-testing meatless entrees beyond macaroni and cheese

It used to be when a vegetarian thought of purchasing a frozen entree at the grocery store they were referring to macaroni and cheese. Those days are over. Now there are a variety of selections to choose from. Some don't even include cheese.

With the new food label providing information for consumers to compare items, one can now make informed choices. Planning meals and diets that meet the dietary guidelines for Americans is a reality.

Recently we purchased 15 nonmacaroni-and-cheese frozen entrees at the grocery store and compared them to see how they rated nutritionally. They were also table-tested by a multiage group of finicky eaters, both vegetarian and nonvegetarian. Complete facts and opinions are found on page 14.

Dividing the frozen entrees into three categories--Italian, Mexican, and Thai--taste testers rated their favorites. In the Italian category, Amy's Tofu Vegetable Lasagna did surprisingly well--surprising only in that many people won't try tofu, even though they usually enjoy it when it is cooked in something. (The advantage of a blind taste test is that most didn't know it was tofu until later.) The overall favorite in the Italian category, however, was Stouffer's Five Cheese Lasagna, showing once again that people like their cheese despite the high caloric intake and fat.

If sodium content is any indication of how well a product tastes, that would explain why the CedarLane Three Layer Enchilada Pie did so well in the Mexican category. At 595 milligrams a serving, diners would have to consider this entree, along with a vegetable (watch the salt), his or her entire meal in order to not exceed the recommended daily allowance.

"One should try not to exceed the 2,400 milligrams of sodium recommended by the American Dietetic Association per day," says Crystal Whitten, a registered dietitian from the Loma Linda University Department of Nutrition in Loma Linda, California. "Breaking that down, if you have three meals a day, that would be 800 milligrams a meal. If you snack, you have to break it down even more. As long as the entree is a complete meal that includes a starch, a protein, and a vegetable, anything less than 800 milligrams is OK. It's when people eat other things along with the entree that they can get into trouble."

Fortunately, none of the frozen entrees purchased were anywhere near 800 milligrams. However, some weren't complete meals.

The Thai category was a unique item for this particular group of taste testers. Some had never heard of the items before, while others had tasted authentic Thai dishes and didn't see how a frozen entree could compare. The taste testers picked the Tai Gourmet Vegetable Korma as their favorite. With six to seven grams of fat, these items rated average among the samples tested.

"With fat, you want to make sure the item has only zero to three grams of fat per 100 calories and does not exceed a total fat count of 65 grams per day," Whitten adds. "Also, the Food and Drug Administration considers a main dish product something that `weighs at least six ounces per serving; contains no less than 40 grams each of at least two different foods from at least two specified food groups;(*) and is represented as a main dish.'"

Nutritionally speaking, the item lowest in fat and sodium was the CedarLane Garden Vegetable Enchiladas. Comments received about that particular product from our taste testers included "cheesy, strange aftertaste, hot and spicy."

Trying to come to a conclusion regarding an overall favorite from our taste testers for these 15 frozen entrees is rather humorous. Everyone has different tastes. For every "yuck" there'd be a "yum." How does one make a comparison with that?

For more information, contact a registered dietitian in your area. To find one, call the American Dietetic Association's consumer nutrition hot line at [phone].

(*) Specified Foods Groups:

(1) bread, cereal, rice, and pasta;

(2) fruit and vegetables;

(3) milk, yogurt, and cheese;

(4) dry beans, eggs, and nuts.

Tamara Michalenko Terry is a writer living in Ellicott City, Maryland.