This is one well balanced Deal of the Day. Smart Ones Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers is not only tasty, but the ingredients are well prepared, and that's saying a lot for typical frozen fare.
Weight Watcher cuisine lacks the heft of carbs and glutton, but for this Deal of the Day you get plenty of nutritious veggies, white meat chicken and a lot of Mexican-style flavor. At 9 ounces you may not fill up, but you will enjoy every mouthful.
defrosted
First off the white meat chicken is flaky, not a spongy processed loaf texture that typically makes up a cheap frozen meal. And for once the cover box photo matches the size of the chicken pieces inside. Plus, with the tomato, lime and chipolte sauce, the chicken stays moist.
I especially like the veggie medley. Often frozen food purveyors overcook them to mushiness, especially squash. Well, there is still a bit of crunch to the corn, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, and red bell peppers.
Even the red beans are firm, I like them that way. The veggies remind me of what you get in a fresh frozen bag from the grocery deli case. Good job with the veggies Smart Ones!
The only thing to watch out for is a subtle spicy heat, that sneaks up on you after you've dredged the veggies and chicken through the tomato and spicy chipolte sauce. The sauce is still a light and watery one, and that's fine with me.
The lime flavor is subtle, but it's there. This Deal of the Day has a very mild heat that I think most noshers can handle.
Finally, I like the short ingredient list of mostly natural veggies and white meat chicken. And, of course, the calorie count and fat amounts are minimal.
Click on any photo to see larger.
Well, I think you can figure out what my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, will be for Smart Ones Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers, right? This is one of the better frozen meals I've had lately so this Deal of the Day gets a perfect 9! I'll be stocking up with these as long as my local 99c only Store carries them.
Okay I'll admit it, I cheated on the diet part - I added some brown rice to my Chipotle Lime Chicken by Weight Watchers, to soak up all that delish chipotle lime sauce.
This week, it'snoshingatitsmostprimitive by a ravenous one year old.
If you have been following The 99 Cent Chef's cutest online video series ever, "Lola's First Bite" (click here), then you will get a kick out of my Cajun version.
Miles is Chef Matt's son (I featured Chef Matt's delicious Shrimp & Gritsvideo last week,) and he's a real Cajun in the making! Just watch as he attacks New Orleans-style Red Beans, then grabs a mit full of Gonzales's ("The Jambalaya Capital of the World") namesake dish: rice made with sausage and pork.
This tyke is one tough cookie as he stares down an angry, snapping crawfish, and then gets the upper hand by chowing down on its tender fresh-cooked tail meat. Finally, Miles finishes with a classic Southern dessert: one of my Mom's renowned Mini-Pecan Pies.
Babies and food are a match made in culinary heaven, and Mile's First Cajun Bite proves it.
Miles Cajun First Bite - Video
Play it here. The video runs 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
Music maven Ms. Patti takes over the Chintzy Chef's kitchen to cook up a classic New Orleans dish. Close friend of roots rocking Lucinda Williams and recent
Facebook friend to Neil Young,
Miss Patti has been deep in the L.A. music scene over the years -- booking gigs for the likes of bluesy King Cotton and Morris Tepper, and guesting on local roots radio programs. Miss Patti has influenced L.A. music tastes, and now she tickles the taste buds of The 99 Cent Chef's audience.
I first met Ms. Patti at the The PalominoClub, the North Hollywood country, rockabilly and cow-punk venue (closed in 1995) where she performed with her group Ironin' Maidens (along with Melba Toast). The Palomino Club was a classic Valley roadhouse with a couple of pool tables on one end, a stage on the other, and a bar in the middle.
Any performer with a Western musical bent has tore up The Palomino's small stage -- from Waylon Jennings to Dwight Yoakam, and there was even a one-off show with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and John Fogerty! I met my wife at a moody Lucinda Williams show here. She was wearing tight black jeans and a winning smile, and I couldn't resist making a move on her! That is, my wife, not Lucinda (although both rock a pair of jeans.)
Ms. Patti moved to Slidell, Louisiana some years before Katrina hit. With a menagerie of critters in her back yard including cats, dogs and two mules named Fellini and Fidel -- you can be sure no little piggies were put under for her vegetarian version of Red Beans & Rice. Miss Patti loves her animals and does not eat meat.
She still comes back to L.A. when she can - I'm catching up with her in Burbank tonight (Friday) at Viva Cantina, where King Cotton is performing at 10:30 p.m. (an earlier act, Cody Bryant, starts around 8:15 p.m.), and the show is free.
Last Sunday I roped and corralled her in my kitchen, and put her to work rattling my pots and pans! Her Red Beans & Rice is easy to make, just add some chopped veggies and the beans, with salt and pepper, to a pot of boiling water, and cook until desired tenderness.
For this recipe, she brought her own legumes all the way from Louisiana - a one pound package of Camelliabrand Red Kidney Beans (tips on where to buy some in L.A. are here.)
As for rice, she prefers Basmati. I always find one pound bags of off-brand red beans at my local 99 cent Only Store, along with Jasmine and long grain rice. You can substitute, as these ingredients are cheap from any grocery.
The fireworks fly and zingers abound when Ms. Patti is on the scene! So sit back and watch The 99 Cent Chef's latest video recipe, where Ms. Patti shows me, and you, a thing or two.
Ms. Patti's Red Beans & Rice - Video
Play it here. The video runs 3 minutes, 30 seconds.
3 green onions - green stems and all, chopped (but remove root end.)
Salt and pepper to taste -- add a tablespoon of your favorite Creole spices for extra flavor.
2 cups of rice - follow package directions. Miss Patti like Basmati rice, but I've made the recipe with regular, brown, or even instant, rice.
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke - optional
Directions
Add 8-10 cups of water to a large pot. To speed up cooking, first soak beans overnight.
Bring water to a boil, while roughly chopping onion, bell pepper, celery and green onions. Add veggies to water with beans. Season with salt and pepper (plus Creole spices, optional) to taste.
Cover pot and cook, to quote Miss Patti, "depending on how firm or soft you like your beans." This can mean 2 (if you soak beans overnight) to 4 hours (straight from package). I like to remove cover for the last half hour, or so, and allow the bean broth to cook down and thicken. (I like a gravy-like broth instead of a soupy one.) Check on the beans from time to time to make sure liquid doesn't cook out. It's easy enough to add half a cup of water, when needed.
During the last half hour, start the rice and cook to package directions. I let the cooked rice sit covered for 5 minutes, before serving.
Add rice to plate, or bowl, and top with Ms. Patti's Red Beans, and don't forget to get out the hot sauce!
