eating
just how quick & easy
RESTAURANTS
Sometimes quick and easy means less taste. Sometimes you hit the jackpot. Cook and learn with these three dishes BY BRANDI GARVIN
Roly Poly Sandwiches
818 Massachusetts St.
841-2774
$3.25 - $6.95
A cross between Subway and Chipotle, the mind-boggling menu at Roly Poly features more than 50 hot and cold wrap sandwiches. A vast array of veggie, turkey ham, pork, steak, roast beef, chicken and seafood wraps await, all with various cheeses, sauces or spreads in them. Some of the wraps are served warm with the help of a hot pressure plate to grill the wrap, so it's a healthy option. Try the California Turkey wrap: turkey breast, bacon, cheddar cheese, scallions, lettuce tomato, avocado, sprouts, mango chutney and ranch dressing.
Campbell's recipe, it's losing points for ease because you have to add more than just meat and you have to tear off the label to get to the recipe. You would think it would be easy. It's not. I had to get a knife. It called for corkscrew pasta. I used elbow macaroni. I made a few mistakes. I was supposed to put the ricotta cheese on top of the meat before adding the pasta. I put the pasta on first, and then I had to scoop it off. Other than that, I did OK. Hey, I didn't say I was an iron chef. The tomato soup lasagna was not good. It tasted like lasagna made from tomato soup. It was not yummy goodness from a can. For taste, one plate. For ease, two plates. For quickness, one plate. I wasn't impressed. I actually threw it away. I like tomato soup as much as the
person, but when I'm expecting lasagna, I don't want tomato soup. The flavors didn't mesh well.
I haven't had Hamburger Helper since before I learned to cook, a coveted art in my family. I won't say that I am a gourmet chef; I'll just say that I can make a meal without a helper, but I have to say, I enjoyed the Zesty Italian. It was quick and easy. Just add ground beef. Would I serve it to my boyfriend over candlelight? No, but would I feed it to him over beers? Yes. I did feel the need to add salt and pepper to taste, and I added some Parmesan cheese on The Zesty Italian gets
top. The Zesty Italian gets
two and half plates for taste because I like my Italian dishes thicker and creamier, four plates for ease because my dad cooked it and he's a special person and three and a half plates for quickness because we kept waiting for it to thicken, but it didn't. Overall, I'd have
to say I would buy it for nights when I'm being lazy.
I like Zatarain commercials. They make everyone in Louisiana look like Emeril Lagasse. So, I bought a Zatarain's Jambalaya. I loved it. You add some sausage to the Jambalaya, and it's a whole meal. You cook it just like Hamburger Helper, but it's better because besides the meat, I didn't have to add a thing. It's spicy even without the sausage, and if you're not feeling the sausage, the box says you can add cooked chicken, ham or shrimp. It also gives you variations to lessen the spicyness. You should know that this is not a meal you can eat and go for a jog. It's filling, and I learned the hard way. I give the Jambalaya three and a half plates for taste, four plates for ease and three and a half for quickness.
The Jambalaya was definitely the best. It was tasty, easy and fast. The one that
was the most trouble was the tomato soup lasagna. It could just be me, but it wasn't impressive enough for the effort. At 15 minutes, when it was supposed to be done, it wasn't. Maybe it was my substitution. Maybe it just doesn't work.
—Brandi Garvin, Jayplay writer, can be reached at bgarvin@kansan.com
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thursday. december 4, 2003