Alexia Select Sides Roasted Potatoes & Italian Inspired Vegetables

The other night, late, I was at Sprouts picking up some stuff for the lunch-and-dinners of the week ahead. Late night grocery shopping is great in the Arizona summer; you have a better chance of your food surviving the trek home. Not only was I getting the food on my list, but I was in search of a quick, healthy belated dinner.

I knew I was probably destined for something in the freezer section, because I needed something close to instant. Sprouts, in general, does not have a stellar assortment of vegan frozen meals and their deli pretty much sucks too. So when I stumbled upon the new Alexia Foods Select Sides products I was pretty excited. I generally like the Alexia products, and according to their website, anything that doesn't contain dairy (and not their chicken nuggets) is vegan, albeit "unintentionally so".

They had four mix options; Roasted Red Potatoes & Baby Portabella Mushrooms, Roasted Red Potatoes & Harvest Vegetables, Roasted Red Potatoes & Italian Inspired Vegetables, and Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potatoes. Yes, all four have potatoes as the base. I picked the Roasted Potatoes & Italian Inspired Vegetables, and checked for dairy, none listed. And the nutrition information wasn't too shabby either.

The package includes a bag of herb-infused oil for you to cook with, this one had basil-infused oil. And the main ingredients included: roasted red potatoes, spinach, onions, tomatoes, and great northern beans. I actually added some leftover Lightlife Gimme Lean Ground Sausage Style to the mix. Then I sauteed everything for the recommended 10 minutes and it all cooked well and fast.

When I was finally ready to sit down and eat it, I was really impressed with the taste. There was a lot of flavor in the vegetables...kudos basil-infused oil! I also want to mention that this bag is fairly small, it really only provides enough servings for 1-2 people depending on if you are using it as a side or main dish. While I might not buy this item regularly, it certainly is a good pre-made meal for the nights when chopping veggies sounds torturous, but when you still want a hearty helping of vegetables.


Alexia Select Sides Roasted Potatoes & Italian Inspired Vegetables
Ranking: ****1/2

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[Alexia Select Sides can be found at Sprouts. These are new products so look for them anywhere Alexia products are sold, which also includes Whole Foods, Fry's Marketplace and many other mainstream groceries.]