Plated Review

You've likely seen all the commercials for meal delivery services. These are the Plated and Blue Apron's of the world and they offer a tailor-made experience for those that are either too busy to source their own ingredients for a home-cooked meal or lack the confidence to cook on their own. Being across the street from a Whole Foods and having a passion for cooking, I never gave these services much thought. But with a coupon for 2 free meals in hand, I decided to give Plated a try. 

Each week, they have a variety of meals available. On one particular week, they had Korean beef tacos, sirloin with potatoes, orchiette with spinach pesto, and vegetable tostadas amongst their offerings. Once you put in your order, they'll provide you with the delivery date and there's nothing else to do but sit and wait!

You get everything all at once - separated out by veggies and proteins, all labeled per the meal you're looking to cook for the night. Each meal comes with a recipe card, which helps to provide some instruction for what could be a great date night cooking experience.

The meals do seem designed with time in mind, with no recipes really taking longer than an hour and the majority taking 30 minutes or less. Everything's provided, less a few essentials you likely have on hand such as salt and olive oil.

Dukkah Skate 
Zucchini hash, pickled radish
  

On one night we enjoyed the dukkah-spiced skate, which was moist and flaky, offering nice cumin flavors. The pickled radish provided some bite and nice acidity, with the zucchini "hash" providing some additional color to the plate. Certainly a healthy offering, clocking in at only 470 calories.

Chinese Chicken Salad
 

The Chinese chicken salad was bright and flavorful, offering nice Asian flavors, with the pop of the edamame providing some fresh heft to each bite along with the chicken. 

Fontina Basil Chicken
 

The fontina basil chicken was quite good, with the bright basil, artichoke and tomato salad providing some freshness to each bite. This was surprisingly only 450 calories, so I added a hunk of cornbread from Whole Foods to add to my plate. 

So if you're looking for a healthy alternative to a busy lifestyle, Plated might be a good option for you. And certainly if you're lacking in cooking prowess, I'd highly recommend it as they provide step-by-step instruction for each of the meals.