Lowcarbezine! Archives

Lowcarbezine! 23 March 2000

Product Review - Gorton's brand Grilled Fillets

Again I have entered the quest for fast 'n' easy low carb convenience food -- stuff you can just zap in the microwave and eat. As I've mentioned in the past, this sorta goes against my instincts, since I've *never* liked convenience food; I'd rather cook. Still, you guys need this information, so I press ahead. Ah, the things I do for my readers! ;-D

This week I tried Gorton's brand Grilled Fillets -- heat and eat grilled fish fillets. These come in several flavors -- Garlic Butter, Italian Herb, Lemon Pepper, Cajun Blackened, Classic Char-Grilled, and Lemon Butter. My husband and I tried two flavors the other night -- the Lemon Pepper and the Garlic Butter.

The fillets are a nice size; about an inch thick and perhaps 3 1/2 x 4 inches. (Okay, I admit it -- I didn't get out a ruler and measure. I just want to give you an idea of portion size here.) The fish used is pollock, a mild white fish, and each fillet has 16 grams of protein, and one gram of carb from the sauce. They come two to a box. I paid about $3.50 for each box of two fillets, so we're not talking cheap here, but then convenience food is rarely cheap, unless it's in the form of body-wrecking carbs, at which point it's *still* not cheap, is it?

The package gives instructions on how to heat the fillets in the oven, or in the microwave. It specifies 18-19 minutes in the oven, while heating in the microwave takes only 4 1/2 - 6 minutes for one fillet, or 8 - 9 minutes for two. I figured that the majority of folks would take the microwave route, so that's how I heated them.

How were they? Well, here's the rub -- I'm not a big fish person. I love tuna, but other than that, I'm just not into the whole fish/seafood thing, although before I went low carb I liked breaded fillets okay. On the other hand, my husband is very fond of fish.

Accordingly, I found the fillets to be okay, and he liked them better. Neither of us, however, found them terribly interesting -- like most frozen food, they were kinda bland and non-descript. There were a few dryish spots around the edges, but other than that, the fillets were moist and flaky, and had a good texture. The sauces were, well, there. We both preferred the Garlic Butter over the Lemon Pepper, but no doubt that's a matter of personal preference.

If you're fond of fish, and relied pretty heavily on frozen breaded fillets before going low carb, Gorton's Grilled Fillets might be a good freezer standby for you. It would be quite easy to nuke some green beans or broccoli to go along side of the fillets, or toss some bagged salad with some dressing, to make it into a meal.

These ain't gourmet, but they're a reasonable low carb convenience food option.

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