Kittery-based Good To-Go brand microwaveable meal cups. Photo by Leslie Bridgers Even for those of us without kids (or cats), the pace of life does seem to pick up in September. I had that in mind when I spotted a convenient-looking product that I hadn’t noticed before in the made-in-Maine section of Hannaford: Good To-Go brand microwaveable meal cups.
I decided I’d be pleased enough with myself about spending a little extra money to buy local that it would cancel out any shame I had about eating processed food. Plus, the packaging boasted the Kittery-made products as “real food,” “chef created” and “sustainable” and the ingredients as ones “you can pronounce,” further separating them from their Cup Noodles cousins. So, I threw two into my cart.
Sure enough, when an after-work commitment left no time for making dinner, Good To-Go’s Mushroom Risotto came to the rescue. An additional draw for me was that this risotto was vegan. While I eat meat – and think adding some leftover protein would be a great way to make it a fuller meal – I often find cheesy risotto overly heavy, so I was excited to enjoy a dish that I love without the usual drawbacks.
The cooking instructions gave me pause – just 1 minute, 25 seconds in the microwave, followed by letting it sit for 7 minutes – but, sure enough, in that time, it thickened up to a perfect consistency, and the rice softened to just the right toothsome texture that I never can seem to achieve in my kitchen d.
