by Ethan Johnson
June 30, 2006

There is no denying it: We Americans eat way too much crap. And by "we" I mean "we". Even the more floaty organic-minded grocery stores have some amount of plain old garbage. But enough about brussels sprouts. Market Street is trying to walk the line between responsible/healthy and trashy/typical. Thus, their frozen foods section runs the gamut between pure organic goodness and fake, awful trash. My personal rule of thumb is becoming this: If you can't easily pronounce the ingredient name, don't buy it. I'm a long way away from applying this to all of my food choices, but the frozen foods aisle is a start.

Enter Amy's Cheese Enchiladas. All of their products are "veggie", which doesn't sound very promising when one is hoping for a satisfying, filling lunch. As Mi Cocina sneaks cheese enchiladas onto their menu quite often, there is a precedent for filling meatless enchiladas. I decided to try these out to see how they stacked up to MiCo.

• Price: Under $4 USD.
• Selection: I am starting to see Amy's items showing up in more grocery stores, but regardless of available space you stand a high chance of finding the cheese enchiladas. Everything they make is organic and veggie. You are now officially warned or inspired accordingly.
• Processing: This particular selection is kosher, organic, and soy + gluten-free. The box makes a point of saying "no GMOs". The web site has photos showing the workers making the different products by hand. That's pretty wild, as I was expecting more automation.

Off to the office microwave!

Buzz: The office nerd (not the lovable kind) told me that he was so attracted to the aroma that he was "fixin' to steal it". Right on.

Aroma: Like El Nerdo said, the aroma is very nice and sure seems authentic. Mmmmm.

Cooking Ease: There are all kinds of funky directions, like cut a small slit in the wrap, heat in on medium heat, then high, blah blah blah. Look, I am using a shared office microwave and don't have time for this technical stuff! I tore a small hole in the wrap (as opposed to stabbing it - easier to deal with removing the wrap later) and microwaved it on high for 3+ minutes. Then I removed the wrap and zapped it for 30 more seconds. Boiling lava city!

Taste: Yum, right on the money. They use corn tortillas as opposed to flour, so the consistency is a bit foreign to me but not bad. The sauce is good, the cheese is all melty - excellent! I didn't miss not having meat in there. Don't be looking for me to get all Vegan over here, but this seems like a good change of pace over the usual bison-slaying.

The verdict will shock you. When it comes to this product, I would, and you may:

• Make this a staple item on your shopping list
• Pick a few of these up from time to time
• Buy one if you see it
• Buy one out of desperation if your preference is not available
• Picket/boycott the store until they agree to stop selling this item

Of course, I am wanting to cut out microwaved foods, but if I'm going to keep going that road, might as well make it work for me. Give them a try!

And if you do, please let me know how your experience compared with mine. Thanks! <EM>