Purple Carrot Bread Co. Lowell

Purple Carrot Bread Co. is not only doing Take and Bake Family meals, but they also do Take and Bake Couples Meals! Family meals serve 5-7 and the couple's meal 2-3. I have heard good things about the food and the serving sizes, so it was time for a visit. I must admit that I really like the name, it's not something that you will easily forget.

They are in downtown Lowell, so there is only metered parking. Not an issue if you are just picking up.

They have a few appropriately spaced tables for dining in. The inside was nice and bright. Pickup at the counter in the back.

This is the 1/4 pan (couples serving) of Lobster Mac & Cheese ($22). The picture doesn't really show how big and loaded the serving was. All meals come with heating instructions.

Here it is after being in the oven at 360 for 30 minutes (325 for 20-25 minutes was recommended) and one serving scoped out. It was nice and creamy and had lobster meat. The pasta was way overcooked and had no texture left at all. When I contacted them about this, they promptly issued a store credit for my next visit. It was also still cold in the middle, probably would have needed another 30 minutes in the oven to heat up. A quick trip to the microwave fixed that. I did verify with them that this is the couples serving size.

The Chicken Piccata w/ garlic, lemon & capers ($18) come with penne. The webpage forgot to mention this. Two big pieces of chicken, plenty of sauce and capers. The chicken was cooked nicely and wasn't dried out. It was lightly browned as a Piccata should be. Plenty of pasta that could have been more al dente, but it wasn't overcooked. Not sure how it would be after the recommended 20-25 minutes in a 325-degree oven, covered. Don't use the plastic cover! The sauce was tasty and lemony but could have done with some more garlic. The sauce was a tad thick, but I just microwaved my portion, and it probably would have been fine in the oven. I did try the oven, 30 min at 350 covered, and the food was still cold. Back to the microwave. My oven temp is spot on, just checked again. A plus for the generous amount of sauce. Nothing worse than running out of sauce!

Address: 107 Merrimack St, Lowell, MA 01852 Phone: (978) 456-5989