Knorr Sides Plus Veggies

• Alfredo Pasta Primavera; Teriyaki Noodles With Asian Style Vegetables; Roasted Garlic, Olive Oil & Broccoli Rotini; Southwestern Style Rice; Cheddar Rice With Broccoli and Carrots; Roasted Chicken Rice With Harvest Vegetables

• $1.99 to $2.29 per 4.3-ounce to 5.4-ounce pouch

Bonnie: The good thing about these is that each pouch contains two servings of vegetables. At least that's what the manufacturer assures me; it looks like less. Knorr says that it measures "the appropriate amount of vegetables per cup. . . . Because the vegetables are dried, they take up less volume than their fresh counterparts."

Knorr also touts "no artificial flavors or trans fats." That is true, but these Sides are loaded with flavor enhancers (MSG, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate), ones that you wouldn't think of adding when making your own rice or pasta with veggies. Those additives are mostly responsible for the 660 to 710 milligrams of sodium in a serving. To be fair, Knorr has been working to reduce the sodium in its offerings, but these still aren't low enough.

Sides Plus are not destined for my shopping cart, but these are still quick and provide more vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber than many other packaged, dehydrated sides.

Carolyn: Bonnie may like the vegetable content of these new Knorr side dishes, but I like their convenience. Before this, serving a packaged rice or pasta side dish meant also having to prepare a meat and a veggie. All you need to complete Knorr Sides Plus Veggies is a small package of precooked chicken, sausage or shrimp.

My thumb is way up on the concept and for at least two of the varieties. The Alfredo Pasta Primavera is that rare Alfredo dish that is creamy without being decadently indulgent. Red bell peppers also lend a pleasing sweetness. And the Roasted Chicken Rice is a lot more interesting than it sounds, mainly because of its leeks.

The three varieties that sound more ethnic and interesting - the Southwestern Style Rice, Teriyaki Noodles and Roasted Garlic, Olive Oil & Broccoli Rotini - ironically are much blander than the others mentioned above and are not worth buying. The veggies in the Teriyaki also don't rehydrate completely.

Knudsen's LiveActive Cottage Cheese

• $2.59 per multipack of four 4-ounce cups

Bonnie: Here's a product I can get excited about. Knudsen now offers individual cups of cottage cheese containing prebiotic fiber. I've been telling you about probiotics, the beneficial bacteria that aid digestion and have recently been added to many dairy products. Prebiotics are the food source for probiotics and also aid digestion.

Each 4-ounce cup contains 3 grams of fiber from the prebiotic fiber inulin, which has been shown to increase calcium absorption.

Enjoy this snack alone or topped with an antioxidant-rich fruit such as blueberries. In September Knudsen's plans to offer LiveActive Cottage Cheese with fruit mixed in.

Carolyn: I should recuse myself from this review. Cottage cheese is one of the few foods I can't stand because of its plastic taste, cottony texture and beady appearance.

The best thing I can say about this new LiveActive Cottage Cheese is that it doesn't taste any worse than regular cottage cheese, so it would probably taste fine to anyone who likes the stuff.

Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of Better Than Homemade: Amazing Foods That Changed the Way We Eat (Quirk).