Looks: Besides the chicken pieces lacking grill marks and the noodles being just a little too thick, I don’t see anything wrong with this meal’s looks. I’m particularly struck by how accurate the colors are. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: It’s pretty good; the vegetables aren’t soggy, the chicken isn’t dry, and the noodles are substantial. I especially liked the sauce – sweet, but with a meaty undertone. I don’t have much else to say except that this is one of the few “noodles plus vegetables” frozen meals that I’d buy again. 3.5 out of 5

Pre-Stir:

Looks: Better luck next time. The vegetables are more of a cafeteria-green-bean green than a summer-meadow green, and the cherry tomatoes didn’t even survive being stirred into the noodles. The consistency of the entire dish is closer to a casserole than the light mixture of pasta and vegetables depicted on the box. 2 out of 5

Taste: While it didn’t make me cry, I wasn’t happy to be eating it either. The chicken was very dry, the noodles were cooked about 50% past al-dente, and the vegetables didn’t have a taste (or texture) at all. The painted-on grill marks on the chicken were convincing though. 2 out of 5