Longo’s: Monday’s Stir Fry Kits
Monday was by far the most fun we had with Longo’s Daily Dinner Deals. Mainly because we got 3 of their Stir Fry Kits to try. We were gambling that the kits were good and that we could sample a couple of flavours and the leftovers would make great lunches. At $6.99 per kit it’s really not much of a gamble especially when you can look in the packages and see how fresh the meal and vegetables are. (Very!)
Monday’s deal: Stir Fry Kits
What you should know: It’s worth customizing a little as you cook.
Our experience: There were so many interesting options that we bought 3, made and sampled them all and had the leftover for lunch later in the week.
The kits come in 2 containers held together, the top one is the marinated meat (chicken, beef, shrimp) and the bottom one has vegetables and starch.
We got the:
- Peanut Chicken which came with bok choy and brown rice (which was actually a tasty combination of brown and black rice)
- Chicken Linguine which had a roasted garlic tomato sauce and came with spinach and plum tomatoes and linguine.
- Ginger Lime Beef which had onions and nappa cabbage on a square noodle,
We wanted to try the food as it was prepared, so we followed the instructions to the letter. Which is hard since we always tweak stuff as we cook.
Of course, it also made cooking fun since the instructions required us to shake the sauce packages and we got quite a giggle out of that.
The Chicken Linguine had a fantastic roasted garlic and tomato smell as it cooked and was one of our favourites, but the sauce tasted a little processed. Tossing in a little left over tomato or fresh garlic or any fresh veg would probably mask this. The chicken was great, but came in 4 big chunks so I’d also slice the chicken into smaller pieces before cooking next time.
The Ginger Lime Beef was the one I expected to like the most but didn’t. The beef was fantastic. But the noodles were splitting (like split ends throughout every noodle) and the sauce made the entire dish too acidic for my tastes. I would have tossed in a ½ teaspoon of sugar maybe with some fresh ginger and/or chiles to counter this, or perhaps just toss in some oyster sauce.
The Peanut Chicken turned out to be the best, especially as leftovers. Again the chicken chunks were big. Personally, I would have liked a bit more peanut flavour. I did get a nut oil feel from the sauce but the peanut flavour was weak. Next time I’d likely plop in an extra tablespoon of peanut butter. The rice was fantastic! Loved the nutty flavour from the combination of brown and black rices, and really appreciated the rice option since rice is my go-to starch.
What we’d tweak:
The packaging is good and makes it very easy to see how fresh the food you are buying is.
But a tweak to the design and it could be turned into a reusable container with a little bit of extra design work. The meat compartment would just have to be modified to become a lid for the base. That would reduce the waste significantly and make me feel better about buying more stir fry kits. I’d like that because they are quick, fresh, easy and tasty.
Best for: Anytime you want something quick, fresh and easy. This really is both a deal and a great dinner option. There’s enough food in one kit for a couple, especially if you have a side salad and they all worked well as left overs. We’ll buy them again and probably get 2 or 3 each time too.
Note: this post is part of my Longo’s Taste Ontario Ambassador series. For more information on my relationship with Longo’s read about my Foodie Adventure: Longo’s Taste Ontario Ambassador! and my disclosure statement