When two culinary powerhouses join forces, you know you’re in for something special. And that’s exactly what we got last week when we joined Lean Cuisine at Brooklyn’s Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD).
The museum, which creates exhibits and hosts programs, cooking classes, tastings, seminars and more, was the perfect backdrop to learn about Lean Cuisine’s new Asian-inspired dishes, as the current exhibition at the MOFAD, Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant, ties right in with how the company went about creating their recipes.
The small museum was great, showcasing the birth and evolution of Chinese American restaurants, along with posters, artifacts and even a working fortune cookie machine (yes, we had more than a handful of hot, fresh cookies).
After our tour of the exhibit, we heard from the Culinary Chef for Lean Cuisine, David Bailey, Director of Culinary Innovation of Nestle USA, Robert Fedorko, Manager of Nutrition, Health and Wellness for Lean Cuisine, Rhonda Richardson and Chef Angie Mar, who was just named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2017. Taking inspiration from Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese and more Asian cuisines, Lean Cuisine sought to learn how to make staple dishes just the way they are traditionally made. Using the same techniques, they’ve adapted these recipes into versions that will hold up when frozen and reheated. Plus, they use fresh veggies, and are reducing the sodium they use in each dish.
Four new dishes added to the Lean Cuisine repertoire include Sesame Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, Garlic Sesame Noodle with Beef and Mango Chicken with Coconut Rice. At MOFAD, Chef Bailey showed us how to easily make the garlic sesame noodles with beef and after trying all of the above dishes, we can certainly verify that Lean Cuisine has upped its game. It may have been introduced to us as a college kid staple, but Lean Cuisine is definitely a brand that I’ll have stored in the freezer for years to come.
Twisted Talk: Have you ever been to the MOFAD? Are you a fan of Lean Cuisine? Discuss below!
