LightLife Smart Menu Veggie Bolognese

By: Tanya Taylor, PhD | Mar 12, 2008

Bolognese is one of my favorite Italian dishes so I was really excited to try LightLife's vegetarian version. LightLife Smart Menu Veggie Bolognese is part of their Heat'n Eat category, which are foods that are extremely fast and easy to prepare. You literally tear a vent in the pouch and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes. The Veggie Bolognese has black olives, green pepper, chunks of tomato, and Lightlife Smart Ground to zesty marinara sauce and pasta. I poured mine out onto a nice plate and added some shredded parmesan cheese to make it look a bit more appealing.

The marinara was flavorful and the dish felt warm and hearty. The soy protein had a good texture and more closely resembled ground meat than I thought it would. I’m not a fan of olives but they were big and therefore easy to pick out. The only thing I would change is that the pasta was tiny - picture ziti pasta cut in half. I would have liked larger pasta, but the texture was right on (a benefit probably from never being frozen).

Each package (255 grams) cost $3.99 and has 220 calories, only 1 gram of total fat - a nutritional home-run - but 31% of the RDA for sodium (750 mg), 17 grams of protein and 37 grams of total carbohydrates which includes 32% of the RDA for fiber (8 grams) and 6 grams of sugars.

This was filling and makes for a nice, hot lunch. The high fiber and protein combined with low fat makes this an excellent value nutritionally. Although it does have a little more sodium than I would like, this meal provides an easy way to cut some calories without sacrificing taste. To make a even more filling meal out of this, add some veggies, like Green Giant Simply Steam Healthy Weight Vegetable Medley.

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