Taste dinner before you cook it

By Josh Eiserike

Published: March 26, 2008

There’s a classic Simpsons moment where Homer takes his family to one of those high-end grocery stores that offers free samples. This is the family’s post-church meal.

“Everything on a toothpick is free,“ he tells Bart, Lisa, Marge and Maggie, before sticking toothpicks in everything on the shelves.

Forget the toothpicks this Sunday.

Entrees Made Easy, a do-it-yourself meal preparation business in Haymarket, offers monthly free tasting, to preview a few of next month’s meals.

But, Cindy Smith, who owns the Haymarket franchise with her husband Jeff and Dave and Dina Pastor, is not sure what they’ll be serving on Sunday. They haven’t placed an order. She said there would probably be beef, fish and chicken dishes to sample.

“We provide a place for families, busy moms or dads to come in and assemble their meals,“ Smith said.

The Arizona-based chain, which came to Haymarket in January 2007, takes care of the shopping, chopping, sautéing and everything else. All customers need to do is come in and prepare the recipe, like at a a Subway assembly line (only with only with ingredients to make dishes such as Jambalaya, Swedish meatballs or steak), then take it home to cook or freeze for a later date.

“It gives people the opportunity to try things that they may not know what it is,“ Smith said. “Everything’s fresh. We make our own sauces, we make our own salsa, we make our own marinades. And you can really, really taste the difference.“

Smith said she and her husband started looking into places such as Entrees Made Easy when they found themselves “stuck in a rut” with their dinners—rotating tacos, hamburgers and the same tired meals, over and over and over again.

“(Entrees Made Easy) just opened up a whole new world of food to us,“ Smith said. “We’re looking to open a second store in Chantilly this year.“

She also hopes to eventually go organic.

Entrees Made Easy offers about 15 entrees every month, which includes side dishes. Most customers come in and prepare a few meals, but Smith said that a few people come in and make 24 meals at once, dinners for almost a month.

She said half orders cost $13 and full orders run $23—or an average of $3.50 a serving.

WANT TO GO?

What: Entrees Made Easy offers a free tasting

When: March 30, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and every last Sunday of the month

Where: 15111 Washington Street, Suite 109, Haymarket

LIKE IT?

Cost: Half order (feeds 2-3 adults), $13; Full order (feeds 4-6 adults), $23

» Price decreases with bigger and bigger order

Staff writer Josh Eiserike can be reached at 703-878-8072 or .