Product: Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas – $3.29+
This is definitely one of those cases where looks can be deceiving. For real.
It was the evening of my Fun Run over in Louisville, which meant that I had to book it home from work, eat something, change, and get over to the running store that hosts the run before everyone took off without me. The run usually begins around 6:10 p.m. And that day at work, a meeting I was in ran over and it was closer to 5 p.m. when I walked in the door of my apartment.
That’s when Tasty Bite meals come in handy. I was already planning on eating one, as they are super fast, super simple, and super yummy. The previous evening, I steamed up some jasmine rice to act as a base. All I had to do was reheat that, then heat up the Tasty Bite entree of my choice. The one that was in the pantry was the Chunky Chickpeas.
The packaging of this particular entree shows golden chickpeas that have been bathed in aromatic spices. They looked super delicious. So, after giving the rice a quick warm and dividing it into two bowls (one for me; one for my roommate), I followed package instructions and tore about a 2 inch slit into the little envelope, stood it up in my microwave, and ran it for 90 seconds.
Yes…these meals only take 90 seconds to heat and then enjoy! Gotta love that.
When the pouch was done warming, I pulled it out of the microwave, opened it further and began to pour the contents over the first bed of rice. What came out was a grey, chunky mess. Seriously. It didn’t look appetizing at all. What happened to my golden chickpeas? These looked like chickpeas that had a round of mud wrestling and lost…badly. I emptied the other half into the other bowl and almost turned up my nose.
Granted, the aroma that wafted from the meal itself was fantastic. But the grey color was a little off-putting. I checked the packaging again…yep…golden. So what was this? Ah well. I didn’t have time to come up with reasons in my head. I had a run to get to, and before that…a meal to consume.
“This doesn’t look very appetizing,” I said to my roommate as I carried out her bowl and handed it to her. “But maybe it tastes better than it looks.”
She gazed down into the bowl. “Ewww.”
I went to retrieve the other bowl, gave it a big stir to mix the rice in more, and found that it made the entree look better. As I was walking back out to the couch, my roommate was in the process of devouring the entree. This…was a good sign.
And as I dug in, I knew for certain that the reason for her hasty bites wasn’t because we were running late to my run. Nope. It was because this entree tasted absolutely amazing. The chickpeas warmed and softened to perfection. And the spices. Oh. My. God. The spices were pure Indian through and through. The Chunky Chickpeas entree is actually chickpeas that are added to water, onions, sunflower oil, garlic, ginger, coriander, salt, cumin and other spices that really turn up the notch of flavor. These don’t have a lot of extra sauce or juice on them, so they do make a good topping for a salad, or in a tortilla or something. But, I enjoyed them over my rice…despite kind of resembling wet dog food.
Honestly…looks are deceiving. What every bite of the Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas did was deliver a spoonful of layered flavors. This meal isn’t spicy at all, but it doesn’t have to be. The spices that the chickpeas are marinaded in are the stand-out of this meal. Honestly, look past the appearance and put your faith in your taste buds. What you’ll discover is one tasty bite (see what I did there?) after another.
And the nutrition on these is fantastic. A serving is half of the pouch (4 ounces), which only sets you back 210 calories and 7 grams of fat. The sodium content on these is fantastically low. And this particular entree packs a 9 gram protein punch with each serving. Gotta love that. And I did…and still do. The Chunky Chickpeas entree is also vegetarian, vegan, kosher, and gluten-free.
Indian food that is easy to prepare, easy on the stomach, and easily delicious is available…and it’s available at local grocery stores. Just look for Tasty Bite. And yes…even despite the appearance, I totally recommend the Tasty Bite Chunky Chickpeas entree. Because underneath all that grey is one flavor-packed entree that is worth raving about and getting others to try.
The Celiathlete 