Plated Meal Subscription Box Review & Coupon – August 8, 2015

Plated sends weekly dinner kits with high quality ingredients and chef-created recipes. Each week you’ll choose from a variety of dishes that range from meats, chicken, seafoods, and purely vegetarian options. There’s enough selection to please all palates, and the recipes are seasonally focused. We love the way each meal incorporates only a couple key herbs or spices; the flavors shine through, and the recipes remain easy to follow. We love getting boxes most week to try new recipes, and we save the must make again recipes – although they’re also available in your account. Plated’s recipes rely on mise en place and then cook, and to be honest, we often mix up the steps, but we’re both experienced cooks and know what can be accomplished while something else cooks. So, read your cards if you need the step by steps.

 The recipe card was updated earlier this year, though I wish it would indicate the ease of the meal right on the card. When your box is sent out you’ll get an email indicating the pantry items you’ll need (this week:black pepper canola oil kosher salt olive oil) , plus a reminder of what meals are coming, preparation ease, cook time, and calorie count. We get asked a lot – Sometimes we order Plated and sometimes Hello Fresh. It just depends on what meals we’re interested in. [Hello Fresh: Take $40 off your first box with coupon code 7UT7K8]

The box has new Jute insulation. The outer plastic bag is recyclable and the jute is compostable (I’m repurposing some of mine as landscaping cloth)  This is a great step!  They also threw in extra ice, hence the envelope to protect the herbs from the chillier box.  Usually its the tomatoes and soft veggies that suffer the most from proximity with the ice — the heirloom tomatoes were just fine, as they were carefully wrapped in their own foam mesh to prevent contact damage.  A note on photos — sometimes we plate family style for pictures, but today’s pics are all single portions (1/2 of the prepared food).

Oregano Chicken Kebabs with Creamy Basil Corn. Novice Time 45-55 minutes, Pros 35-45 minutes. 600 calories. Challenging.

Nothing too complicated about this dish, but the meat skewering and corn grating earned it a higher difficulty level.  The chicken thighs skewered more easily than expected — usually uneven cuts of meat hang off oddly.  It was well worth the extra effort in preparing this dish.  The chicken skewers were elegant and tasty, but the creamed corn side was absolutely fabulous.  The grating of some of the corn added a creamy texture to the plump kernels, and the pan preparation really developed the sweetness — definitely something to make again!

Balsamic Steak Sandwiches with Heirloom Tomato, Creamy Horseradish, and Cucumbers. Novice Time 30-40 minutes, Pros 25-35 minutes. 710 calories. Easy.

Delicious steak sandwich with French bread that was pleasantly soft.  The steak really plumped when I seared it, so it stayed pretty rare (I tossed it back in the pan for a couple seconds after slicing).  The horseradish sauce had a lot of lemon, and it seemed like it would make a really good sauce for fried white fish — but it wasn’t particularly fiery.  The tomatoes were huge (and good), and we ended up with lots of them to eat as leftovers.

Hawaiian-Style Chicken Fajitas with Caramelized Pineapple Salsa. Novice Time 40-50 minutes, Pros 30-40 minutes. 700 calories. Medium.

The brown sugar in this dish paired with the pineapple and onions to make a very sticky and sweet ginger sauce.  Really tasty and juicy — this dish would be great to make in a big batch for party, served either in tortillas or on Hawaiian rolls! We ate it with the green apple jalapeno sauce from our My Texas Market August box!

This batch of recipes was good for Summer — limited use of the oven and range, but just as important, they each tasted really good without being served super hot either.

Plated Summer Series: From July through August, every week, Plated will feature one recipe designed for the grill, one no-cook recipe, and two stovetop-only recipes!

Visit Plated to find or more or to subscribe, or check out all our Plated Reviews.  Currently you can get 2 plates with your purchase of 4, no coupon code required. Find more meal subscription services & dinner kits in the directory.