Product Review - Fresh Direct's New 4-Minute Vegetarian Meals from Eating Well

Most New Yorkers have heard of Fresh Direct. The online grocer delivers to most of the City, offers competitive prices, and has an easy to navigate website. I use Fresh Direct myself a couple of times a year - typically when I am having a party (and always for Thanksgiving dinner), as its great when you know you are buying way more than even your granny cart could get home for you. I don't know why it hasn't caught on with me for my regular week to week shopping...I guess because I get enjoyment out of picking up my groceries each day when I've decided what to prepare for dinner.

I was intrigued recently, however, by the advertisements for a line of 4-Minute vegetarian meals, created by the editors of Eating Well. The meals are the newest additon to Fresh Direct's full line of 4-Minute Meals, which feature ready to steam entrees from famous NYC restaurants like Tabla, Rosa Mexicano, and Artisinal. I had already been tempted to try the "Smart & Simple" meals (all under 500 calories), so thought I'd get my groceries delivered this week so I could try out these healthy convenience meals myself.

There are 8 Eating Well meal choices on offer - I selected the "Hoppin' John w/ Vegetarian Chorizo," and the "Indian-Spiced Lentil Quinoa Ragout." The meals are packed interestingly - in a pressurized plastic container so that it steams in your microwave. I was impressed to see that the food was all fresh - nothing frozen here - and did steam near-perfectly in the 3 minute cooking time. Vegetables remained crisp and retained nice color. The meals themselves were complex in flavor, and generously portioned. The whole grain/fiber content of the vegetarian meals had me quite full halfway through each meal. This was certainly more than a few notches above a Lean Cuisine. The portable container would also make it a great office lunch.

My one complaint about the Eating Well/Fresh Direct meals is the price point. At $7.99 each, they aren't as reasonably priced as I would expect for a vegetarian entree. I suspect that the cost of the portable steam container weighs heavily into Fresh Direct's pricing of these meals. For most New Yorkers, a take-out meal of any kind imaginable is just a phone call away - and it isn't too hard to score a freshly prepared vegetarian meal at any Chinese, Indian, or Japanese retaurant for under $10. The rest of the 4-Minute line features entrees running up to $14.99 for fish and lamb. At that price, I am not microwaving my dinner.

I do think Fresh Direct is on to something here, however, with the portion and calorie controlled meals. Memberships to diet delivery services like The Zone Chefs can run up to $45 per day. The "Smart & Simple" meals from Fresh Direct may be a better choice for dieters not wanting to commit to 30 days of packaged food at a clip.

Check out the Fresh Direct site to see all the 4-Minute Meal options.

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