December 2015 Hello Fresh Vegetarian Box Review + Coupon

Hello Fresh is a meal kit subscription box where you’ll get the recipes and ingredients to make 3 meals for two (or 4) every week. Hello Fresh is a subscription, but you can pause your deliveries whenever you’d like. They offer both vegetarian and regular (omnivore) boxes – this is the vegetarian box!

Hello Fresh instructions have very nice illustrations, are clearly written, and even lets you know nutrition info, prep time, and which recipes are best to make first. Even a novice cook can follow them. Hello Fresh sends all the sauces, bouillon and such in individual serving packets or in off-the-shelf brand name packaging; although it means a little more packaging, they survive shipping better than the plastic cups used by Plated. I like that the outer packaging of the box is recyclable.

Fig & Brie Flatbread with Thyme-Caramelized Onions and Balsamic-Arugula Salad. 45 mins, level 3, 648 cal.

Triple wowsers!  This was good.  The description on the front of the recipe card was right on the money:  Sweet fig jam goes perfectly with gooey, melted Brie.  A touch of balsamic added to the caramelized onions balances out the sweetness with a pop of acidity.  Finished with peppery arugula, this flatbread is both sophisticated and indulgent.

I like a thin flatbread but my husband likes thicker bread so he liked that I used a round pizza stone instead of a large backing sheet.  Our flatbread was thicker than it should have been.  So be careful on the size of the pan you use for the bread.

They rated this a level 3 on the ease of prepping/cooking.  It was quite easy, I’d rate it a 2 or even less.  Overall, taste, presentation and texture, a definite 10.

Brussels Sprout and Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie with Cheddar Mash. 45 mins, level 2, 503 cal.

My husband helped me in the kitchen with the cooking tonight to help speed things up since I returned home a little late.  I swear the food just tastes better when he cooks it!

It was a level 2 in prepping (on a scale of 1-3) and I’d say that was about right.  I’m finding that it takes time to prep the thyme (no pun intended) more than any of the other ingredients.  I did use my grandmother’s potato ricer rather than mashing the potatoes.  We find we don’t have to peel the potatoes first as the skin is left behind when ricing, saves a step.  

This was the first time my husband and I had shepherd’s pie and we even spent 2 weeks in England!  It was a very tasty dish, indeed.  Very filling, we have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

The vegetables were a great blend of with the topping of cheddar mashed potatoes, a match made in heaven!  This rated a 10 in our book. Curried Veggie Biryani with Sweet Potato, Peas, and Herbs. 35 mins, level 1, 746 cal.

First, my apologies to the chef.  I detest mint!  But I googled substitutions for the mint and I read either basil or parsley, I love basil so basil it was.  That’s the nice thing about these dinner meals, you can change them if you want to.

Second, biryani was a new dish for me.  It’s an Indian mixed rice dish composed of a variety of spices, herbs and vegetables. You learn something new all the time.

I’m a huge fan of sweet potatoes but my husband isn’t; however, in this recipe he really liked them. As a matter of fact I don’t think he even realized they were in the recipe and I didn’t dice the cubes that small.

This was a full of flavor with the fragrant mix of curry powder, garlic and basil.  Even though it is supposed to serve 2 you could easily serve 4 by adding some bread, maybe some naan.

This was a 9.5.

And here are next week’s recipes! Boxes for the next week close on Wednesday nights.

Visit Hello Fresh to select your box for next week!  Take $40 off your first box with coupon code 7UT7K8.