More made easy

Prepared Foods, April, 2004

Meal kits have expanded beyond the center-of-plate. Coming to market are several kits that take the trouble out of making side dishes, desserts and salads. Leading the charge is Del Monte (San Francisco), offering Del Monte Casserole Bakes, helping time-pressed cooks make Green Bean Casserole in five minutes.

The package comes with two cans of French-style green beans, one can of cream of mushroom soup, and one can of crispy onion topping. The consumer adds milk. While naysayers may argue, "making green bean casserole only takes five minutes anyway," the time-saving is mostly in the shopping phase, for the consumer no longer has to track down the aisle with the onion topping. The kit retails for under $3, about the cost for the components separately. Last year, Eagle Family Foods (Tarrytown, N.Y.) released Eagle Brand Chocolaty S'mores Brownie Kit, which contains the Eagle-brand of condensed milk. Gil's Gourmet Gallery (Sand City, Calif.) also helps the less culinary-inclined to make salad dressing with its Salad Lover's Survival Kit; it contains spices, 10-year old balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive off to mix and prepare a perfect dressing. Have things just gotten too easy?