Showing posts with label vegetable tart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegetable tart. Show all posts

One Kitchen's meal delivery service


In my youth I loved cooking … the ritual of combining ingredients into a delicious creation and sharing it with loved ones. Once work came into the picture, the thought of all the time spent prepping and cooking compared to how quickly everything was consumed became taxing. It also became harder to cook for one once leaving my roommates after university; too often ingredients come in big portions and food was wasted. So, soon it became easier to just eat out or prepare easy meals, the more complicated creations left for Sundays, dinner parties, and special occasions.

I’ve heard about meal delivery services from friends who love how easy it makes cooking meals for their families. Sure, it sounded intriguing, but being a food blogger and my husband and I having active social lives, I had doubts whether cooking three meals a week was feasible. Then one day One Kitchen offered to provide me a week’s delivery to try – what a perfect excuse to let my inner chef come out again!

Dependability

Delivering on Monday and Tuesdays seems smart – most people go out on weekends and having a weekday delivery means customers don’t have to waste precious weekend hours at the supermarket.

As promised, everything arrived in a thick cardboard box with all the ingredients held in an insulated bag. Four ice packs also kept the meat frozen so everything was still intact and cold when I arrived home in the afternoon.  On an environmental note: it would be great if One Kitchen takes back the box, insulation bag, outer plastic bags, and ice packs to reuse. A drop-off pick-up sort of a program.  

Plastic bags kept all the other ingredients separated into their respective recipes and I just made sure they were stored together in the fridge.


As a warning, not everything is included in the kit. Some ingredients are understandable – oil, salt, pepper – things people should have at home. However, there were others that were a bit strange like with the vegetable tart you’re expected to have cider vinegar (luckily I had it), but the recipe includes flour.  Perhaps the vinegar wasn’t a key ingredient (used in the dressing for the salad) and could easily be replaced with something else.


It would be nice if One Kitchen provides a list of ingredients and equipment required for each recipe (on the website), so people can ensure they’re prepared before choosing it for delivery.

Recipes: Ease of Use

For the most part the recipes are pretty easy to follow. They include the ingredients in the proportions required, so you don’t need to measure or weigh anything. Simply wash and chop the produce and you’re set.

Plenty of information is included on each recipe card including pictures and even wine pairing suggestions. If you’re still lost, you can go on their website and watch their quick videos that provide an overview. 


I wouldn’t say the service is for someone who’s never cooked before as the recipes do use terms that could confuse a novice (such as "scoring" a border on the puff pastry). Even I had to watch the video to make sure I prepared the pastry properly.  

In terms of timing, each recipe took me anywhere from 30-45 minutes to make, this was based on taking my time to do it and washing & chopping the vegetables. 

How It Tastes

All three recipes were very different, One Kitchen sure has variety (except for seafood on the week of my delivery … though I do see they have shrimp pasta now).

The vegetable tart with green salad was my favourite:  the tart’s pastry turned out perfectly, rising beautifully into a flakey glory. I was surprised by the amount of onions and shallots used in the vegetable medley, but the stronger aromatics really helped to make the tart tasty.  Of the three recipes, this yielded the most food … it could seriously feed four people if you purchase more lettuce. I appreciate having lunch the next day, the vegetable tart delicious even cold.


At first I thought the stuffed chicken breast would be difficult to make, but it turned out to be the quickest. The chicken remained moist and the mushroom and sage mixture inside quite delicious. Cheese helped hold everything together and also add some creaminess. Since the recipe was predominantly baked, it also wasn’t oily. The only small change I’d make is using less lemon on the roasted broccoli as it was a bit sour, although somewhat refreshing with the meaty chicken.


Despite regularly making beef chili during the winter, I even learnt something new from One Kitchen. With this recipe, I was advised to take a third of the kidney beans and puree it in a food processor (a gadget I don’t own … luckily, the blender worked). The resulting chili was thicker and creamier than my past recipes, a great trick I’ll continue using. 


Additionally, I would have never thought to add an avocado salsa on top - generally relying on cream cheese and cheese – it really changed the chili adding freshness  on account of the raw onion, lemon and avocado.  

Conclusion

It was fun and exciting to cook again! Certainly my husband and I made it a priority to leave work at a decent time, not go out, and go home to enjoy a meal together. Of course, it took time (about 45 minutes per day to be exact) so I don’t think it’d be something I could do every week. But, the ritual would be great to do once every month or so when we’re sure we’d be home.

Price and How to Order the Service

At about $10.00 - 11.50 per serving, One Kitchen’s prices are in line (if not a bit lower) than competing services. The smallest plan is the two-person three meals one ($68.94 total or $11.50 a serving) and the price reduces to $10.00 per serving ($159.84 in total) for four meals for a family of four. The pricing also includes delivery and taxes.

Even though One Kitchen is a subscription based service, you can always skip a delivery or cancel at any time. So, it makes it easy to use on a periodic basis. This could even work for dinner parties if you’re not sure what to cook and want a safer “fool-proof” option.  

If the above has intrigued you, sign up and try a week for yourself. One Kitchen is offering Gastro World readers 40% off any box for new customers. Just visit their site, pick any of the plans (including the largest one) and use Gastroworld as the coupon code. 

Disclaimer: The above meal delivery was complimentary. Rest assured, as noted in my mission statement, I will always provide an honest opinion.


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