Chef’s Plate
I don’t know exactly how I came across the website for Chef’s Plate but it was probably Facebook. If you haven’t heard of Chef’s Plate, in a nutshell it is a “food box”, you know like the monthly beauty boxes? Except in this case once a week (or less if you skip weeks) you get two meals delivered to your door. Something about this really intrigued me so I immediately signed up.
I had to register of course, provide a few preference details, and then pick a few recipes from their weekly assigned choices. On their website they had a coupon for two free meals (it’s still there) so I entered that and instead of paying $49.80 I paid $28. A $6 delivery charge is included in those prices.
I received an email last night that my box had been shipped and around 2:30 this afternoon it arrived via FedEx. I’d like to point out that a meal for two people x 2 is actually pretty heavy so I’m surprised they are able to do such reasonable shipping.
Here is a quick Instagram video of me unpacking the box (I mention them forgetting a piece of chicken but there was actually two in the package):
The well packed box came with four ice cold packs around the meat. Since one of the meat options was chicken, and this was a concern for me, I was relieved to see everything was still so chilled considering the heat and humidity we are experiencing this week.
I have unpacked everything and put it in the fridge. I have to head out and do some grocery shopping (haha) and will decide when I get back what we will try first. Dinner options I received: Corned Beef on a Pretzel Bun and Herb Crusted Chicken Supreme (both are pictured on this page), one for each of us.
A heavy card stock recipe direction card came for each meal. There are a lot of instructions on the back so it doesn’t look like they are making you guess how to do anything.
I’m quite excited about trying some new recipes and I love the fact that I don’t have to go hunting for ingredients at the grocery store because everything is included (except basics i.e. brown sugar). I always get frustrated when I try to follow a new recipe and it turns out I cannot find one to five of the ingredients I need.
I will post an update once I try both meals and let you know how it goes.
Chef’s Plate is currently delivering Ontario wide and “expanding quickly”.
UPDATE on My First Two Chef’s Plate Meals
From here on, the images are of my actual plated results.
Corned Beef on a Pretzel Bun with homemade tomato jam and mixed green salad — We both hated the salad that came with this meal. It was too bitter. I did not use all the juice from the half of lemon and it was still bitter. I think it needed sugar or something to balance it.
The sandwich was really good and I have actually found myself craving to have it again. The portion size was quite large and Jeff ended up saving half his sandwich for lunch the next day.
There was also a side of tomato jam which was awesome. Jeff even liked it and he is not a big tomato person — that’s an understatement, he tends to pick tomatoes off everything.
Lemon was carried throughout the meal, in the dressing for the salad, spread for sandwich, and in tomato jam.
The full page recipe cards are easy to follow but I would like to see larger images. I know space is a premium but a little larger would be nice.
Montreal Spiced Steak with new potatoes and red delicious apple kohlrabi salad — Overall it was a tasty meal that was fairly easy to prepare and cook. The salad was OK. Better than the last one. I also mixed the ingredients together first before applying over salad, rather than mixing like the directions said, to give a more uniform taste.
The steak was yummy but perhaps the steak spice was a bit too salty. I’ve never pan fried a steak before so this was an interesting experience and I’m happy with the results and can see myself doing it again. The potatoes were awesome of course, they are potatoes, but they needed a cooking time of 30 minutes and not the 20 instructed.
UPDATE on a Few More Chef’s Plate Meals
We have tried a few more recipes over the last few months. I won’t give a full review of them, just a few quick thoughts.
Chicken Cheese Melts with tomato, basil, and corn nut chopped salad — Loved this. A new way for us to make chicken. I have never cooked with Provolone and cornflake crumbs before.
Turkey Meatballs over fresh spinach fettuccine and lemon butter sauce — Lovely, glamerous looking dish that really felt like no effort to make. Just enough for two. My first time cooking with marinated artichokes. Delish!
Chicken in a Lemon Cream Sauce with mashed potatoes and leek haystacks — Never thought of leeks as a side before (usually only make leek soup) so this was interesting to try. Chicken and potatoes were a win.
Hand Rolled Ricotta and Kale Manicotti with fresh pasta and garlic bread — There was very little complaining about the greens in his pasta. It’s a fancy dish that was easy to make because all the ingredients were right there.
Herb Crusted Chicken Supreme with mashed potatoes and spiced green beans — This was an interesting method of cooking the chicken (stuffing then pan frying) and was very tasty. Described as “hard” difficulty on recipe card but really wasn’t that difficult in my opinion.
Vegetarian Thai Red Curry with chickpeas, green beans, and whole wheat roti — This was a beautiful dish to look at. It was fragrant but overall not a favorite for either of us. It seemed too overloaded with the chick peas and somehow was too spice and too bland at the same time — too much heat. I did not use all the curry paste, thank goodness.
Final Thoughts on Service
I really love the concept of having all my ingredients on hand and ready to go without having to worry about what I missed. The convenience is awesome! I also liked that I was able to learn a few cooking techniques as well as work with and taste new ingredients that I would not normally be exposed to. If you don’t like what they pick for you there are at least four other options to change to on their website.
As for the company and website, it is very easy to manoeuvre to change meal selections and to skip weeks. I picked and chose the weeks I wanted to use the service in advance up to two months. And there is a pause option that I am currently using because we had a big home expense and I did not want to have to worry extras payments. This is seriously one of the best features of the system. I hate box programs that make you feel trapped.
I like the service and will use it again soon.
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Topic Links
* Visit Chef’s Plate to sign up (Yep, if you use this link I get a free meal.)
