Home Meal Reviews: Week 9 - GreenChef

Meals:

Meal 1 - Monday: Steak & Beat Panzanella

I am constantly surprised by these companies' ability to make Kale edible.

Meal 2 - Wednesday: Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

This looks a little burnt, there was not enough to fill the pan so the edges
burnt but it was rather tasty.

Convenience

Green Chef basically only delivers on a Friday (at least in my area) and requires in excess of a week's notice. I think that once you are committed, this is probably not the worst, although the Friday delivery is simply terrible in every way. I am likely out on a Friday (and I suspect I am not alone judging by parking anywhere near any restaurant in the Bay Area) - this means that the food will be sat outside my apartment several hours before it get's unpacked. One good thing is that this company is available in almost all of the contiguous US with delivery dates seemingly dependent on location. There is no packaging return process, which having been doing these for a while, I am starting to see as really pretty necessary. Quitting this service, while not as bad as some of the previous, is still a hassle that cannot be done purely online.

Preparation

These meals come with a similar level of preparation requirement to HelloFresh or BlueApron, about 30-45min. They are actually less on the chopping side and have a few different things going on. There are a lot of components that come pre minced / diced or pureed for convenience which is nice. the recipes are also pretty good in showing what to do and when, so that everything comes out warm and together. The one thing I would warn is - STAY ON TOP OF TIMINGS! If you mess it up, you will end up needing to do two or three things at the same time.

Ingredients

Green Chef is very loudly organic, the recipes have a healthy bent and a lot of information on them on their site which is always nice. The ingredients come in lots and lots of little pots and bags but unlike every other service, they are not bundled so you end up rummaging through the fridge for ten minutes trying to find the last little jar of horseradish creme fraiche that has inexplicably ended up somehow embedded in the middle of the Sherry Trifle your Aunt brought over last month and you never quite threw out.

Taste

This was another set of solid meals, the portions are actually 2 decent dinners unlike most of the others that will generally give you left overs. The food managed to be both healthy and tasty.

Conclusion

Green Chef is great if you are not in the Bay Area, also the menu options are pretty good. There are offerings for Paleo / Carnivore / Veggie even Gluten-Free which makes it very inclusive, however I am not sure if this will really work that well for couples where only one of them has these restrictive diets (it makes me think of this line in Pulp Fiction *Warning not family friendly*). Not my favourite option but the good recipes and tasty meals make it a decent option.

Still to come:

We are rapidly coming to the end of this experiment as I run out of places to try out and after all this eating I will have to go on a major diet! But before that day we will still be covering:
Eat Mise
Magic Kitchen
Good Eggs
Sun Basket
Luke's Local
FarmHill