First off, each of the meals was prepared by the very talented Tori B Bearly, and you can see more of their cooking exploits by checking out The Sad Girls Cookbook.
I won’t go in to too much detail about the box overall this time, if you want that breakdown, check out my review of the first box by clicking here. But for now let’s talk about the meals we got in this second HelloFresh Box. For this box we decided to add extra meals so that we could really get to grips with the quality and variety offered by HelloFresh. If you are interested in comparing them, I would also suggest you check out my review of the Gousto Box.
Speedy BBQ Chicken (with Wedges and Garlicky Beans)
We’ve made this a couple times since we first tried the recipe because not only is it delicious but as the name suggests also quick and easy to make. Tori is a much bigger fan of BBQ than me, but this meal takes some high quality chicken that’s rich and savoury and blends it with the smoky, sweetness of a really good barbecue sauce with the deeper sweet flavours of honey. Adding to that the rich, earthy notes of shallots and garlic, all of these come together really well. I think this dish really benefits from the wedges, not only because they build the meal up making it more substantial but also because they soak up the excess BBQ really well and taste great.
Mexican Style Beef (with Crispy Potato Top and Guacamole)
So this was one of two absolutely stand out recipes and it started with the high quality beef mince, beefed up if you’ll pardon the pun, with a hearty beef stock paste. The blend of Mexican spices and finely chopped tomatoes made for a rich and sweet dish that was spicy enough to enjoy without overwhelming the other flavours in the dish. The last part that really made this dish superb was the potatoes on top, baked in cheese. They add in a nice balance of taste and texture that evoke classic Cottage Pie but with the rich flavours of Mexico coming through as well.
Thai Style Pork Rice Bowl (with Green Beans, Coriander and Rice)
First off this has a relatively quick cooking time so it’s easy enough to put together in a hurry. It also doesn’t suffer in quality despite being a quicker meal. It has a nice spice to it, the chilli adding heat and is enhanced and enriched by the sweetness of both the regular soy and Ketjap Manis which I’ve never used before but is apparently an aromatic, sweetened soy sauce from Indonesia. Despite not being a big lover of sweet flavours. I do love dishes which blend sweet and savoury together well and that dish does that for sure. The pork mince is great and eaten with the green beans and the delicious, fresh basmati rice. It gives a really nice flavour and texture that makes this dish superb.
Cheese and Caramelised Onion Pork Steak (with Wedges and Garlicky Greens)
I prefer Pork to beef for Steaks, I think the leaner, more tender meat makes it more enjoyable and more forgiving if, like me, you’re not the best in the kitchen. The addition of the cheese and the Caramelised Onion makes them heavenly. Also the Garlicky vegetables were great, really simple to make, really fresh and lovely, they rounded off the meal perfectly.
Cajun Spiced Roasted Vegetable Stew (with Rice and Coriander Yoghurt)
This was the second truly standout dish. And oh my god If I could eat this every day I would. Its so rich and flavourful. It blends in sweet potato which I’m always a fan of. The mix of finely chopped tomato with garlic, red onion, paprika and cajun spices not only make this dish perfectly tailored to my specific flavour preferences but also result in a rich, sweet and incredibly moreish Stew that I liked so much I’ve asked Tori if we can have it again on my birthday in a few weeks. What I liked as well was that this was a distinctly vegetarian dish but it didn’t skimp on flavour. It was a full bodied dish that could easily put all the others in this box to shame and that’s saying something as I liked all the recipes we got in this box.
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