Green Chef
We’ve been busy testing vegan eats from Green Chef, our first foray into meal kit delivery service. While not all their offerings are vegan, we sampled ourselves silly with every plant-based meal (currently) available. How did these stack up? We ranked our favs by overall taste, rather than ease (as they were all fairly simple to make).
#1 Italian white bean & veggie soup with ciabatta crostini
Great northern beans, sweet potatoes, and kale in a mushroom broth with creamy coconut milk made an excellent dinner. We loved that this nourishing and perfectly creamy soup came with herbed crostini too!
#2 Creamy mushroom penne
Sun-dried tomatoes and cashew-based parm help set this hearty pasta dish apart. Both filling and creamy, it paired perfectly with balsamic vinaigrette tomato crostini that accompanied
#3 Boom boom cauliflower bowls
This mild (not so ‘boom boom’) entrée gets an extra flavor boost from sesame oil and fresh ginger. We loved the cabbage crunch and the dry-roasted cashews (just wish there were more cashews to savor)
#4 Portobello ‘steak’ salad
Overall good ratings for this salad, chock full of savory Worcestershire-marinated mushrooms. We added additional black beans and corn (from our home stash) to help make it a bit more substantial. Even without the extra veg, we sure would have liked more of the creamy vegan chimichurri dressing
#5 Maple-mustard sweet potato bowls
Collard greens and farro are the real heroes of this bowl. We would have loved more sweet potatoes and pecans (and probably less peppers) to help balance out the overall flavor profile
#6 Jamaican fried rice
We were big fans of the island-inspired flavors in this veggie-packed rice, but were underwhelmed by the fresh mint (wilted upon delivery) and the tiny amount of pineapple. These could have really made a stand-out dish
#7 Portobello & farro salad
Farro coupled with mushrooms, butternut squash, and kale made for a tasty light bite. The cranberries and hazelnuts were nice additions. This meal was technically vegetarian, so we omitted the parmesan cheese
#8 Creamy corn & potato chowder
Corn, potatoes, and carrots anchor this coconut cream and mushroom broth-based chowder. While pleasing, the soup seemed somewhat pedestrian (primarily cream and potatoes). Perhaps additional paprika and orange spice blend could have put an exclamation point on this dish
#9 Porcini mashed potatoes
Don’t let the name fool you! These potatoes, paired with rich gravy, roasted carrots and slaw, made for a full meal. While we were fans of the potatoes, the slaw (with sugar-free vinaigrette) didn’t pair particularly well with the balance of the dish
#10 Harissa tofu couscous bowls
We liked the cauliflower and currants that accompanied this dish, but didn’t find the tomatoes adding much flavor value. Also worth noting, the harissa makes for very spicy tofu. (Sadly our agave broke open in shipping, so we didn’t have that to potentially balance out the spice.) And even more sadly, once again, the fresh mint was wilted. Also, the tiny packets of pistachios made them seem like merely a throw-in
Because this vegan loves grocery shopping and creating her own recipes in the kitchen, Green Chef might not be my thing moving forward, but I could definitely see this as an appealing option for those who need the kitchen assist. There are plenty of recipes to try… happy Green Chefing!
