Tasty Bite meals have been my favorite for times when I travel, because they are in convenient ready to eat pouches. The Bengal Lentil was my first experience with Tasty Bite. The Bengal Lentils is similar to an Indian dish. The best of all is every ingredient in this meal is real, meaning easily found in most everyday kitchens. Each ingredient is what you would use in your own food. There is not one strange ingredient or preservative.
The main ingredient says whole lentils. I’m a bit confused because I thought the main bean type ingredients was a small garbanzo bean. But, garbanzo/chickpea was the 6th ingredients down. I don’t notice any lentils in the Bengal Lentils, just what seems like garbanzos. It doesn’t really matter in the long run because it is really good either way, no matter what legume it might or might not be.
The lentils/garbanzo beans are a little firmer than I would prepare them. They are fully cook just very firm on the outside, but soft on the inside. Even though they are firmer than I prefer the all around taste is really good that it doesn’t matter.
I almost always buy the Tasty Bite meals by the box (pack of 6) because they are great for emergency packs for to keep around the house, travel food, camping food and hiking food. I especially love them when hiking because all you have to do is rip open the pouch and start eating. They don’t need to be heated or kept refrigerated before the pouch is open. If you do decide to heat it up it is really easy to prepare. It can be prepared in the microwave or the stove top. It can’t be microwaved in the pouch and I also heard from someone who heated it up in the pouch in boiling water while he was camping.
The Bengal Lentils dish is an absolutely yummy dish of garbanzo beans and lentils in a spicy, savory tomato gravy. The spices are warming and spicy but not too hot. It is vegan and also gluten free. There are 2 servings per pouch and each serving is only 160 calories, 8 grams of fat and it has a good amount of protein, 6 grams. Sodium is a little high, but actually low for packaged food at 440 mg. Though, it is natural salt, no msg. The iron is high at 22%, calcium at 8% and full of fiber at 8 grams.
I don’t feel the Bengal Lentils need any thing but sometimes I top it over rice and sometimes scoop it up with bread. It only gets better with bread, doesn’t everything. If you love quick prepared packaged foods but you want it all natural, like you would prepare I highly recommend the very flavorful Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils.
Ingredients: Whole lentils, Tomatoes, Onions, Sunflower oil, Chickpeas, Garlic, Salt, Ginger, Chilies, Coriander, Turmeric, Spices.
