HelloFresh

Rating: 💋💋😘

***I would like to throw out there that HelloFresh is not sponsoring this review.

When a box arrives on my doorstep labeled, 'Hello, good cookin'!' I just can't help myself from being flattered. 😍

A week or so before social distancing hit, I received a mysterious coupon from HelloFresh with a hard to pass up offer. I figured it might be worth a try, but held off on making an account so I could mull it over a bit first. HelloFresh is a meal kit service that offers perfectly portioned ingredients and recipes, delivered right to your door. Each week comes with a seasonal menu curated by chefs, so you just log onto your account, pick your favorite meals for the following week, and look forward to delivery. Also, you can skip up to six weeks in a row, so you're not chained to anything. Most often, HelloFresh is advertised as a great resource for people who are learning how to cook, and/or people who want to spice up their recipe book. I love a good new recipe - did I want to use a meal kit service in order to find it?

What happened is, New York City shut down in an attempt to limit the number of Coronavirus cases at a time and reduce the burden on hospitals. I found my grocery situation in dire straits. There is one grocery store near me, and it is never fully stocked. All other grocery stores are at least a half hour train ride away. Public transit is not our best friend right now and it is impossible, actually impossible, to find all needed ingredients at one grocery store ever. Grocery shopping used to be one of my favorite activities and now it is my nightmare. Not to mention, the only time I go out is for groceries, and I limit that to no more than once a week. The point is, quarantine is not a time to bust out my recipes and get creative in the kitchen, because I'm not able to source all the ingredients I would need. I thanked the Lord I saved that HelloFresh coupon and it had not expired yet. With it, I was set to get a month of meals with a super helpful deal, so I can still eat healthy and interesting food without feeling downtrodden at a store that looks like it was ransacked by evil seagulls.

1. Baja Rockfish with Yellow Rice and Salsa Frescsa

I would first like to note that I cooked this meal while wearing my 'Going Nowhere Fast' tee shirt, which felt very timely considering I literally have no place else to go aside from the three rooms in my apartment. As far as the actual cooking goes, the recipe was super easy to follow, and broke everything down so I could budget my time wisely and prep in advance. It took slightly longer than the recipe sheet predicted, but isn't that always the way? Not everyone's stovetop cooks at a universal rate, some rice takes longer to fluff than others, and we don't all chop vegetables at the same speed. Also, only one of the burners on our four-burner stove works - which our Super refuses to acknowledge - so as soon as a recipe dares to ask me to have two pans cooking at the same time, I have to get creative. I am excited to move, is all I have to say about that.

Cons: I admit, I cheated slightly, halving the cilantro required for the salsa, because I just don't like it. That turned out to be the perfect solution - by halving it, the cilantro added a bit of flavor without making the dish too bitter for me. I did find myself growing bored of the fish. I had never eaten rockfish before and was excited to try it, but it did not quite meet the mark. At the end of the day, I decided rockfish will do if needed, but it is not my fish of choice. It was meaty and flaky in a way I did not find very appetizing, and the fish had no flavor of its own. Also, it was very odd, because I was stuffed right after dinner, but two hours later I was hungry like I had not eaten anything. Thank God for my dark chocolate stash.

Pros: The recipe was an interesting and a fun way to break out from my usual. Fortunately for the fish filet, it was well-encrusted in a turmeric-cumin spice mix. I really appreciated the fusion of flavors in the dish. The cool and tangy salsa fresca refreshed the hot and spicy fish, and the crema on top balanced out the two. My favorite part was without a doubt the yellow rice. Simple, delicious, and the part of the recipe I definitely want to make again, with any variety of dishes.

All in all, it was a fun way to break out of my comfort zone, but I probably would not opt to make it again.

2. Balsamic Tomato Parmesan Risotto with Basil Oil and Zucchini

This made me super nostalgic for my Florentine host mom, Patrizia. She would cook us risotto all the time, as it is a specialty of Milan and she grew up in a little town just outside that city. Her saffron risotto was like ambrosia. I am still obsessed and wish I could make it for myself. Really everything she cooked was phenomenal. I absolutely adore her, she was so fun to chat with, and I have really been missing her recently. I have been worried, considering how hard Coronavirus hit Italy, so I sent her a card two weeks ago just to offer some love and support. I sincerely hope she receives it. I was super excited to learn how to make risotto like she always did.

Cons: This dish also took longer than the HelloFresh directions predicted, but not by much. Risotto is known to be a slow-cooking dish, so it did not surprise me at all. Rather than cutting the heat off at forty-five minutes, I kept going until it looked the way Patrizia's risotto did. I waited until I got the perfect, creamy consistency with the sticky rice globbing together.

Pros: This risotto had many charming qualities. For starters, it came with these cute little bottles of Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Great brand in adorable packaging? Ugh, I'm in love! Maybe it is just because I am used to cooking different Italian dishes, but I felt most in rhythm with this dish out of all the ones they sent my first week. I felt a lot more comfortable timing everything. Even though I had never cooked risotto before, the recipe did not feel as new or daunting to me. Despite being the lowest calorie dish I had in my order, the dish was super filling. I did not get hungry two hours later, as I did with the fish. Risotto is stick to your ribs kind of food. Not only was it satisfying, it was incredibly delicious. I am lukewarm on balsamic, mostly because I ate way too many Greek salads back in high school, but when used to cook the zucchini and tomatoes, I rediscovered my love for it. The balsamic vinegar brought out such a vibrancy in the sweet tomatoes, which melted delicately into the cheesy rice.

I am the most enthusiastic about this meal. So much so that I transferred the recipe into my personal cookbook so I can make it anytime, with or without the meal kit service. I was very proud the dish was such a success too. I have so many risotto recipes saved in the 'Recipes' tab on my computer, and now I have the confidence to work my way through them. It will be a delicious endeavor.

3. Roasted Veggie Farro Bowls with Marinated Cranberries and Salsa Verde Sunflower Pepitas

This recipe proved that I am using HelloFresh as a guinea pig so I can experiment with new styles of cooking. HelloFresh is there to hold my hand throughout the process.

Cons: I was a little bit nervous about this one. I have never cooked farro before and, reading through the recipe, the timing seemed stressful. I used my culinary knowledge as well as my understanding of my finicky kitchen appliances to adjust the order of the steps ever so slightly. As a rule, washing and prepping a pile of vegetables should always come first. The sweet potatoes HelloFresh sent me were the gnarliest I ever saw. It did not affect their flavor, it's all good, but they were knobby with spindly twigs sticking out of them. It was wild, and I had to perform a little cosmetic surgery on the potatoes so they could live free from the tangled roots that spiraled out of them. I do have one complaint about this meal: I was instructed to squeeze juice out of a lemon, mix it with a tablespoon of olive oil, and that would create enough dressing for two servings. Well. The lemon they gave me was miniscule. It barely gave me half a tablespoon of juice, and I pulverized the thing in my efforts. A tablespoon and a half of liquid to flavor two servings of arugula salad and farro? Are you kidding me? Fortunately, I have a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge so I could do damage control, and the cranberry marinade lemon dressing turned out fine.

Despite that annoyance - and I entered full sass mode over that teensy tiny lemon - I ended up loving the dish.

Pros: Nerves aside, the recipe wound up being super easy and the timing worked out great. This recipe actually took as long as its instructions claimed it would - a solid forty minutes. The chili-spiced roasted sweet potatoes and tangy cranberry arugula mix went so well together. Also, I had never tasted farro before and I have to say, I love it. It was so warm and comforting, yet still fresh and healthy. That's meal goals, right there. The star of the show, though, was without a doubt the pepitas. They required the least work of all, I just had to sprinkle them over top at the end, but they made the dish. Shame on me for being completely blase about them before. I've put pepitas on my yogurt, granola, and oatmeal bowls and it was fine, but nothing like this. Now I am looking at them in a whole new way. The sweet, nutty flavor blended into the farro beautifully.

It was love at first bite. I did not save this recipe because it seemed pretty straight forward, but I will be keeping an eye out for more farro recipes to try in the future.

I regret to inform you that the HelloFresh charm faded, and abruptly.

That deal I was so excited about? In our second week, HelloFresh paused the offer and billed Shannon and I full price for our orders. I understand the reasoning behind it - they are swamped with orders due to the pandemic and they need the funding to keep themselves going. What I don't understand is why my bank statement informed me of the change and not HelloFresh. A simple email notification would have sufficed, and would have been more honest, so that customers could assess their budgets and decide their next steps. The order had been processed though so I adjusted my weekly budget accordingly and decided to look forward to my next Saturday delivery. The morning of, I got a confirmation email that my order was on its way! How exciting.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

At 3:30 they emailed me that, actually, there was a delay because there are so many orders right now. Again, that is understandable. We are living our days in exceptional circumstances, make no mistake. Then I got to the end of the email, where they informed me I would now receive my delivery on Wednesday.

Well, that is four dinners away! Not a big deal if you live near a stocked grocery store, but that is not something I find very relatable at the moment. It was nearly dinner and now I had no plan. It was just super frustrating. First you up my bill without notice, then you don't deliver on time and leave me stranded. I was exceptionally unimpressed.

I got by. I ordered in a delicious fired-roasted red pepper and avocado tuna wrap from the unsung local hero of Brooklyn, Wholesome Gourmet. I made those Australian eggs, featured last week. I made a frozen dinner of Paneer Tikka Masala (despite being frozen, actually delicious). Solutions exist. It was fine. When my HelloFresh order finally made its way to my door on Wednesday night, I was like, "Oh really? How good of you to show up." (Mood: No second date, let me tell you that much.)

Barramundi with Creamy Salsa Verde over a Roasted Veggie Jumble

Okay, I very much preferred this recipe to the Baja rockfish from the previous week. Everything that was less than satisfactory with that dish met the standard here.

Cons: The dish had a few obstacles to overcome along the way. For starters, cilantro made an appearance and, despite cutting the amount mixed into the salsa verde, it was still too much. That's on me though. To make matters even trickier, the sour cream pouch exploded in transit, so I did not have enough to make the salsa verde base. It turns out that when the grocery store only had low-fat plain Greek yogurt last trip, it was a blessing in disguise. I mixed that in to compensate for the missing sour cream and, while it did not pack the same punch, it got the job done and went well enough with the fish and veg. I did not totally love the pepper chunks in the dressing though. Dressing is supposed to be smooth. Chunks are not a texture I want to mess around with. Finally, what was with the tiny lime that was so tough I could not squeeze any juice out of it? Again, God bless the bottle of lemon juice in my fridge, saving the day yet again.

Pros: Easy enough start, I liked the fish better. The buttery, meaty barramundi tasted delicious and created a great base for the meal. I took the fish off the skillet and was cooing about how gorgeous the seared cumin-covered skin looked glistening in the kitchen light. The vegetables were actually my favorite part this time around. Most specifically, the sweet potatoes made each bite better. With a perfectly roasted skin, the well-seasoned spuds totally stole the show. This made me confident that the fish entree selections at HelloFresh are worthwhile choices.

I made this while doing Zoom Happy Hour with my team. It was very fun getting to socialize (safely) while preparing my dinner, and helped break up the humdrum routine of isolation. Only two conversation topics were off-limits: Coronavirus and the Tiger King. Both of these big issues plague our nation during these trying times, though to slightly differing degrees. As soon as we signed off, my fish came off the stove and dinner was ready to go. Pretty groovy!

Crispy Chickpea Tabbouleh Bowls

I kicked off my third weekend in isolation with these bad boys.

Cons: It contained cucumber. I am of the opinion that cucumbers should only be allowed when thoroughly pickled. That being said, sometimes a good dressing can take them a long way. Tangy lemon juice coated the veggie tabbouleh in this dish, and that acid worked its charm, helping pickle the cucumber in its own small-scale way. This recipe found a way to make cucumber work, even for me. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to receive a very pale, even totally white in certain areas, tomato. We're still moving out of winter, which is a sad tomato season, so this is not necessarily the fault of HelloFresh, but it was a shame. Also, the bell pepper was not good all throughout, so I had to surgically remove all the bad parts before dicing the remains and adding it to the oven pan. Finally, the recipe warned that the chickpeas would burst a little bit while they roasted with the peppers in the oven, but some of them full on exploded. I had to scrape their guts off the oven ceiling. It vaguely alarmed me.

Pros: The creamy feta dressing was phenomenal. Mixed throughout the dish, it sealed the deal on this recipe's winner status. Unlike the barramundi crema, there were no chunks or explosive sour creams to be found! Just gorgeous cheese in a creamy dressing. I added a little bit of the leftover harissa powder into the dressing and am quite pleased with the improvisation. I saved the recipe for this entire dish, and I am excited because the feta dressing can also be used as a dip for fries or crudite. Yum! I was also very pleased because unlike that sad little lime I had with the fish and the pathetic lemon I had with the farro, I got a great lemon with this dish. It was super squeezy and the bright citrus flavor brought out all the veggies and absorbed into the tabbouleh so well. On the note of grains, the tabbouleh cooked so fast! Before HelloFresh, I was loyal to brown rice. I had just ventured into quinoa and was very pleased with the quick cook time and delicious flavor. After HelloFresh, I now know that farro and tabbouleh also cook faster than brown rice. It is revolutionary. I am not saying I am going to break up with brown rice, but it's great to know that all these other grains are very feasible options with a quicker cook time and an equally delicious taste. I will be mixing up my dinner grains a lot more going forward. Last but certainly not least, I loved the crispy chickpeas. Absolutely scrumptious. The more on a bite the better. I would eat them straight out of a bowl, and am considering just buying chickpeas and roasting them to have on hand now. Fantastic dish, and the second one I saved for the future.

The weekend only went up from there. Shannon and I bonded through our buildings heat being cut off (it has since been restored) and planned housing requirements we will have when we start apartment hunting, whenever quarantine will allow that to happen. On Friday night, my parents FaceTimed us and we had a super fun Virtual Dance Party. I hope there are more to come. (I think I won the dance-off but the judges are refusing to name a winner, smh) On Saturday, Shannon and I cut into this delicious cinnamon-sugar chocolate chip coffee cake she made and it's incredible. It makes every morning a little bit better. All around, a nice weekend.

Friday, 2:00pm Friday, 8:00pm

Mushroom Penne with Truffle Cream Sauce and an Italian House Salad

This was the perfect meal to cook up on a gray Sunday.

Cons: I have to admit, house salads do not exactly excite my taste buds. Neither do carrots. I remember watching Daddy Daycare as a child and being so upset about the Veggie-O's focus group scene. Broccoli is the best vegetable, carrots are the issue. What is wrong with these kids?? Carrots are acceptable if done well, though. The Italian dressing was peppery and soaked into the salad well enough that I did not mind the carrots too much. Also, I've never gotten the point of those hard little croutons. Uninspired, dehydrated, oversized bread crumbs with little flavor, they are. That Italian dressing saved the day in that regard as well. It soaked into the croutons, softening them up and making them vaguely reminiscent of the thick homemade croutons that do taste good. The croutons quickly became my favorite part of the salad. On another note, even after majorly cutting the salt in the recipe, I was chugging water all night. Oh my holy. It was the Gobi Desert up in my mouth and no oasis was big enough to provide true relief. And I cut the salt! What is up with that? I suppose between the cheese and sour cream and butter there was enough salt from the get-go, with no additional seasoning needed. You have to add salt to pasta water, it's just the rule, but if I could do it again, I would season everything else with only pepper to save my parched tongue.

My last critique is a general one for every HelloFresh meal I have cooked: the second time around is always better. This defies all logic. Usually, you look forward to the fresh batch, and then it is nice to have leftovers. With HelloFresh, there are so many pots and pans to juggle and throw in warm soapy water so that the oil does not set after cooking. Then you have to combine all the parts of the meal and do the whole presentation thing, and by the time you sit down, your food is bordering on lukewarm. It weakens the flavor a bit. I don't know why this is more of a problem than when I cook other recipes for myself, but I guess my style of cooking and organizing my kitchen is a bit different than the way HelloFresh instructs, so I get my plate on the table faster. I am not totally sure yet and will be keeping a close eye on this. For now though, I prefer the second HelloFresh serving better, when you plate, heat, and eat the meal without having to worry about all the other steps that leave your dinner out in the cold.

Pros: Last summer's truffle kick is making a comeback. (Also, I cannot believe it was "last summer." I feel like my truffle phase of July and the start of this blog were two weeks ago.) The earthy mushroom, sweet scallions, and deep umami flavor of the truffle zest was unparalleled. I have never cooked mushrooms before and was so pleased that they were super easy and super delicious. It just makes you feel fancy, being able to get on a Zoom call with your coworkers and casually say, "Oh, yes, I made truffle pasta this weekend. It was divine." I didn't actually say that, but I had the power to, and that's the point. The best part: a few months ago I read a cooking tip to add the cheese to pasta before the sauce because it helps everything stick together better. Amazing advice. God bless the cooking page in People magazine. Not only did it help the truffle cream coat the penne in nice, even layers, it applied the parmesan directly onto the hot pasta. With every bite, there was a long cheesy pull of Parmesan. Glorious. Also, the risotto and the penne were the only meals that kept me full all night long, and I greatly appreciate that. The penne was so satisfying that I was still full when I woke up the next morning.

On Monday, I went grocery shopping to get enough food to take care of meals for as long as possible, because reports are that the next two weeks are critical to the Coronavirus and it would be best if no one goes outside at all. My trip to the outside world revealed that most of the people in my neighborhood are not adhering to social distancing at all, which is disappointing. It is only going to prolong the problem and put more people at risk. I avoided contact as best as possible, attacked the grocery store with military precision, and got home as quickly as I could. It was lovely though, to smell the grass and asphalt baking in the sun and feel the sun shining down. I will miss spring this year. When I got home, I rewarded myself for my successful Key Foods conquest with the last serving of truffle pasta and salad. It was a delicious prize.

So HelloFresh was not exactly the COVID-19 Grocery Savior I had hoped for, but that is okay. I have not cancelled my account because the food is delicious and it might be a nice thing to have from time to time. That being said, I did not hesitate before hitting the "Skip This Week" button after I got that delivery mishap message. I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I might be bold and get another order in the coming weeks, to help with the isolation, and I hope it goes okay that time around. My parents keep texting my sister and I to NOT leave the apartment, so having groceries delivered would certainly help.

I'm gonna come out of this spring paler than I was at the start.

Please stay healthy and safe!

XX,

MK