Easy as Lunch

I tried one of Gardein's newest meals today, the Burgundy trio with beefless tips, veggies and rice. At only 230 calories for a full serving, it deserves high marks as a healthy, easy-to-prepare lunch.

The ample serving of beefless tips--which are very high in protein--have one of the best, most steak-like textures of any vegetable protein I've tasted right out of the package. My only suggestion would be to substitute the white rice with brown or multi-grain rice. I'm also hoping that Gardein packages the low-fat, cholesterol-free tips separately in family-size servings. I'd like to incorporate them into other recipes with quinoa and couscous or as vegetable kabobs (sans the rice).

Also look for the Sicilian and Thai trios at Whole Foods, Kroger and Safeway stores.