Plated.com Dinner Box Review & Free Plates Coupon – November 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 we wish it would indicate the ease of preparation on the card so we can decide what we’re making first. When your box is sent out you’ll get an email indicating the pantry items you’ll need (this week:black pepper egg 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 jute packaging is back!  I’ve determined that there is no real rhyme or reason to the choice of outer packaging, as it changes monthly.  They have continued packing herbs in an envelope to protect them from the ice.

Asian Meatloaf with Miso Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Broccoli. 25-35 min, 650 cal, easy.

We had a split opinion on this dish. I thought the meatloaf was tasty, and Brandy wasn’t crazy about it. We both loved the broccoli, but the miso made the potatoes a bit more bitter than we would have liked. I did like the concept — an Asian twist on an American diner classic.

Thai-Peanut Chicken Curry with Sticky Rice. 30-40 min, 510 cal, easy. This dish was absolutely delicious — Brandy called it one of her all-time favorite Plated dishes. The spicy, sweet, sour broth had tremendous flavor and, and the chicken was fabulously tender cooked in the soup. The rice was great, too, and we followed the directions to knead it to make it even stickier!

Chicken Tortilla Soup. 35-45 min, 670 cal, easy.

We weren’t crazy about the Tortilla Soup. The tomato stayed a bit too acidic (could have used a pinch of sugar, maybe), and the avocado was just OK as an in-soup pairing.

This wasn’t the best set of Plated dishes we’ve had — two of our selections were merely OK.  The curry, however, was incredibly good, and we will certainly be getting it when it eventually comes back around as an offering.

Visit Plated to find or more or to subscribe. Currently you can get 2 free plates when you buy 4 when you sign up with this link (no coupon code required).