Diet Food Reviews

Healthy Choice Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini

By: Delia L | Oct 29, 2008

I saw Healthy Choice Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini in the freezer aisle and picked it up mainly because it was on sale. I was sort of excited by the prospect of a large healthy Panini since the box was about 7 inches on each side. The box describes the Healthy Choice Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini as "no fat & reduced fat mozzarella reduced fat provolone cheeses, diced tomatoes, roasted peppers & onions, spniach with creamy basil sauce on Italian bread." Wow, that's a mouthful to say, but the sandwich itself was quite small. Each piece of bread was about 5 inches by 3 inches.

I removed the plastic wrap that was around the two Panini halves and the gray crisper cardboard, microwaved the food according to directions, and found the cheese to be nicely melted. Because the Panini was so small, I decided to eat each piece open-faced, layer by layer. There was a decent amount of diced tomatoes, and the cheese had a good taste and texture. After that, I could see the basil sauce in the bread. I was expecting something more like pesto rather than some light green coloring absorbed in the bread, but it tasted just fine. The bread was crisp, and I could see the artificial grill marks on the outer surface of the bread. While this isn't my ideal lunch, it does okay.

The calorie and fat values of the Healthy Choice Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini are clearly highlighted on the front. There are 310 calories, 4.5 grams of total fat, and 1.5 grams of saturated fat. To round out the rest of the nutritional facts, Healthy Choice Tomato Basil & Mozzarella Panini has 600mg sodium, or 25% of the recommended daily amount, which is on par for most frozen individual meals, 23 grams of protein and 42 grams of carbohydrates, which includes 3 grams of sugars and 6 grams of fiber (a whopping 25% RDA, which is great). There is also 40% of the RDA for vitamin C.

The bread is made with whole grain, and the Panini is endorsed by the American Heart Assocation. I paid $2.50 for this at Kroger (regular price is $3.00). Considering the massive size of Paninis typically found in restaurants, this one is normal-sized, which is good. There is great flavor, and I really appreciate the use of whole grain bread.

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