YOU'RE HOT OFF the Gyrotonic machines, hungry and - having spent the last ounce of your energy - in no mood to cook a fine meal or go out.

How about something frozen? Like one of the zillion or so entrees now crowding the cases of your local supermarket. One that will appeal to your latest fitness vow with shouts of words like "healthy," "lean," "organic" or - yowza - "smart."

In the interest of saving you some of that precious energy, our stalwart band of explorers here at Pacific Northwest magazine did some trolling through the frozen-food section to see if anything good has come of the industry's recent efforts to capitalize on our too-busy-and-important-to-cook-better lifestyles.

Before you hear the results, a little background. First, our expectations were not high. We weren't counting on finding anything we'd call delicious, especially since we were honing in on lower-fat stuff. After all, we're talking about the updated equivalent of TV dinners. But just as those much-maligned confabulations had their place with the kids on a Friday night when the folks were having a card party with friends, today's frozen dinners can come in handy when you're dragging after a long day.

Nonetheless, the cold reality is this: A lot of what's out there isn't great. It won't ever substitute for a meal you make yourself. Mostly that's because ingredients too often lose their identity in such volume processing. Everything tastes the same. Spicing runs either harsh and slightly bitter or bland and really boring. Meat is scarce, vegetables not much more prolific. And what's there often looks pitiful. Peas are peaked, beans are shriveled, even carrots are wimpy.

As our most intrepid taster observed, it's telling that we had to take a day's break from our testing to work up enough gumption to go back to it. Only the promise of cute frozen mini-Dove bars kept us going. Even that didn't hold everyone.

About the tasting Each of the entrees was prepared in the same microwave oven, according to package directions. All meals were eaten directly after preparation. Note that our tasters tried only 12 of the dozens of frozen-food entrees available in local stores. Results are the opinions of a few tasters, and therefore do not represent a scientific sampling. They do demonstrate that even within brands, some dishes can be better than others. They also show that price is not necessarily an indicator of quality. The so-so Uncle Ben's entree was the most expensive, at $3.59. But the top three were among the priciest - the Vegetable Korma at $3.49; the Lean Cuisine Turkey Tenderloins at $3.39, and its Chicken in Peanut Sauce at $3.09.

Still, we found a few things that were all right. And despite our woefully unscientific methods, we gathered enough information to give some decent advice. So here it is - "fresh" from the table:

First and foremost, remember that words like "healthy" are characterizations of the makers - not assurances that this food is actually good for you. If, for instance, you're on a low-salt or sugar-restricted regimen, forget eating virtually any of the things we tried. All but two of the dozen entrees we sampled listed more than 600mg of salt per serving; most contained 5 to 9 grams of sugar, a couple considerably more. And those carbs we hate to love? Many of these meals listed 40 grams plus per serving, some in the high 50s and more.

On the positive side, most were reasonably low in fat, considering they were meant as dinner portions. Most had between 6 and 8 total grams of fat; the highest was just 10.

Now for those "little" things like taste, texture and appearance. We rated every entree in those categories, using a scale of 1 to 5 in which 5 meant really good. Nothing rated a 5, but a few scored some 4s and a few more settled comfortably into the 3s.

Two of the top three vote-getters were from Stouffer's "Lean Cuisine" line. That won't surprise the readers who recommended them to us. Top of the heap was Lean Cuisine's Glazed Turkey Tenderloins. This one had it all - color from cranberries in the dressing; crunch from celery; tender turkey that - this was rare - actually tasted like turkey! The bread in the stuffing was a tad dry, but that was easily solved with a stir through the light gravy. Perhaps best of all was the scoop of puréed sweet potatoes nicely set off in its own little compartment. Maybe it's the brown-sugar syrup that did it - these were sweet and smooth enough to pass for dessert. No doubt it's one of the reasons this dish was far and away the champ in the sugar camp: fully 20 grams per serving.

Next favorite was Lean Cuisine's Chicken in Peanut Sauce. The meat was tender and tasty, the linguini just the right texture. Alas, that couldn't be said of the "snap" peas, which had none. Still, crisp water chestnuts helped compensate. And while the peanut-y sauce wasn't a rip-roarer, it was pleasant and filling without being cloying.

A close runner-up was Taj Gourmet's Vegetable Korma, a melange of sautéed veggies flecked with cashews and raisins. "Finally, some spice," we said, and not the usual stuff that tastes powdery and rough. The rice, though over-dry, was bright and fragrant with turmeric and cumin seeds. Stirred in with the carrots, onion, cauliflower, peas, peppers and potatoes, it was quite fine. Another plus of this dish: It's wheat-, dairy- and preservative-free. Only major drawback: too salty. It didn't have more sodium than many of the dishes, but perhaps because it was mostly vegetables instead of potatoes, beans or meat, the salt stood out.

Clear winner of the beauty contest was Weight Watchers' Smart Ones Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans. With pretty green bits of zucchini, bright kernels of crisp corn and a light sour-cream sauce topped with a scattering of cheddar, it looked just great. And it tasted all right, too, as long as you ignored the package promise of "zesty green chili." There wasn't much zest going on here, more like mild and soothing flavors - nothing a little splash of Tabasco couldn't help.

Healthy Choice's Turkey Divan Bowl was another that satisfied more with its mellowness than its zing. Of the entrees featuring meat, it was among the most generous, with chunks of turkey you didn't have to hunt for and a light gravy with detectable notes of sage and thyme. Cornbread cubes, broccoli and a surprising toss of raisins rounded out the dish. The cornbread added heft and the broccoli still had a bit of bite, in contrast to most of the broccoli in other entrees.

We started one day's testing with Amy's Mediterranean Vegetables in a Pocket Sandwich. It probably wouldn't be enough to qualify as a meal for most of us, but it made a decent snack. All Amy's products are vegetarian, and the pockets are also organic. The wheat crust held up well even in the microwave, and the filling had real flavor, mostly from the dash of herbes de Provence and a sprinkle of feta cheese.

After that, the choices fell off, heading into the 3-minus scores and below. Lean Cuisine's Hunan Beef & Broccoli was bland, the sauce a little goopy. Everything tasted the same in Amy's Enchilada with Spanish Rice & Beans. Trader Joe's Chicken Colorado Bowl at least had a little kick of chili peppers going for it, and some peas that still had color. It was heavy on rice and beans, light on meat and veggies. Then again, at $1.99 it was cheaper than all the rest except the Amy's pocket ($1.69).

In the "I'd eat this if I was really hungry" category came Uncle Ben's Szechuan Chicken Rice Bowl, a generous pile of rice but stingy with the meat, and blah to boot. The expected fever-heat of a Sichuan dish was more like a blush.

In the "let's not" category were Ethnic Gourmet's Shrimp Fried Rice (skimpy on the shrimp, dry, and a bitter, out-of-a-box flavor to the spices) and Cascadian Farm's Japanese Noodles & Vegetables Bowl (minuscule bits of veggies, dull cubes of tofu, a monochromatic mush with an off, powdery-tasting spice of onion and ginger).

Would we pay good money for any of these? Well, probably those top handful to get us by in a pinch . . . as long as we could have those Dove-bar chasers.

Kathleen Triesch Saul is associate editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. The magazine's assistant editor, Molly Martin, contributed to this report.