In spite of their obvious non-authentic nature, I have always liked La Choy canned veggies over those crisp noodles.
Some of those pseudo-Mexican offerings will do in a pinch, but it’s been long enough I don’t recall brands offhand. (We have some decent Mexican places near enough to do that instead of the fix-at-home.)
Has anybody done acceptable Mediterranean packaging that you know of? Gyros, falafel, that sort of thing?
At Trader Joes, or a large grocery store if you have access to one, you can get Indian food in vacuum-sealed, shelf stable packets. There are several brands but Tasty Bite (it goes without saying, that you can order them online!) seems to be the most common. I used to buy them for lunch and though by no means as good as nice fresh indian food, they are damn tasty.
I like the microwave Indian food I get at the “India Bazaar” near my place. Palak Paneer, Curried mushrooms, etc… Kohinoor Foods is the main brand I get, but there are others. Also, frozen samosas by the bag provide a pizza roll equivalent.
Wanchai Ferry frozen dinners. Yes, I realize they’re probably not “real” Chinese, but they’re a pretty good approximation of what you’d get at a decent Chinese take-out place.
Second for the Kohinoor Indian stuff (and similar brands/packages–I think there are at least four brands in similar flat boxes, and the quality is all similar among the ones I’ve tried).
Actually, those types of Indian dishes are the only packaged ethnic foods I like. They’re still more expensive (per quantity) than cooking for oneself, and not as good as any decent Indian restaurant… but they’re really not bad. The fact that they’re shelf-stable, no refrigeration needed, makes them ideal for stocking up. I get them at a local multinational ethnic grocery for about 30% less than at Kroger supermarket.
I can’t abide any ready-made form of Chinese or Mexican–the quality difference to any decent fresh version is just too big.
There are a couple grocery stores near where I live (Chicago suburbs) that sell a brand of Indian foods by the name of Swad. They have some frozen options that I’ve really liked, especially the lilva kachori.
La Tienda at tienda.com has imported Spanish food of all sorts. I’ve survived on their cold soups all summer. Their Ajos Blanco is a cold almond and garlic soup that is divine. We add some sliced dried black figs. a few special whole almonds (marcona?), a little bread, olive oil (Spanish chili from William Sonoma is good – but any extra virgin olive oil will do) and a dollop of sour cream. It looks like something from a gourmet restaurant.
They also have the usual gazpacho. You can keep these on hand in the frig for company.
La Tienda ships out of Williamsburg, Virginia and it takes only two or three days.
There are many other things to choose from – hams, cheeses, sweets, tapas, spices, etc.
Marcona and largueta are the two varieties of almonds that are sold in Spain, or at least the two that get labelled with the variety, so that sounds right. The soup is Ajo Blanco, no “s”.
I will second Mrs. T’s. They’re not in the same world as what your Polish grandmother will make, but they are tasty! And, they’re made in the same area as Yuengling beer, so they make a good match.
Another vote for the Tasty Bite brand. Their palak paneer, which I think they now call Kashmiri Spinach, is very tasty indeed. The last time I checked, Trader Joes had the best price.
Annie Chun’s does some delicious microwaveable udon noodle soup. I don’t know how authentic it is or whether any of their other food is as good, bud that is some fantastic soup.