We don’t get along. As you may know from my previous posts, I am trying out a few meal delivery services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. While I have enjoyed the experiment, the novelty is wearing off and unfortunately I am going to take that out on Marley Spoon. One of my biggest complaints about the meal services on a whole is how uncreative it can be. You don’t really get to express yourself or make any choices. But at least they do some of the creative thinking for you. But I found Marley Spoon very unimaginative with their dishes in comparison to the others.
Corn Soup with Mushrooms
Flavor: 2 | Ease: 5 | Dirty Dishes: 3 | Price for first week: $31.50
I love the taste of fresh corn, but I don’t think you can let an entire dish rely on that. The “soup” consisted of corn boiled in water and then pureed. As for the toppings, I think they were an attempt to make the soup interesting but honestly the only flavor I felt complimented the soup was the green onion. The feta cheese was jarring, the mushrooms were a completely different flavor palette, and while I love pine nuts, I didn’t understand their purpose here.
Broiled Beef and Broccoli
Flavor: 1 | Ease: 5 | Dirty Dishes: 3 | Price for first week: $31.50
This was by far the most disappointing dish, although the most successful picture! Why was it disappointing? It was ENTIRELY too salty. The broccoli was completely saturated by the marinade to the point of being inedible. And the beef was quite tough. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was just that it looked so damn good!
Chicken Paillards with Arugula and Pickled Peaches
Flavor: 3 | Ease: 4 | Dirty Dishes: 3 | Price for first week: $31.50
This was probably the best of the three dishes because there was some complexity added by the pickled peaches, shallots, and jalapenos. The imaginativeness of this recipe reminded me of Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. I felt like it was a dish I wouldn’t have thought of had I not ordered from the service. I think that’s the most that I can ask for really. Give me something new that I couldn’t have done on my own. I wasn’t happy with the quality of the chicken because it tasted watery and flavorless, but it was a nice fresh and healthy meal.
I don’t think I need to beat on this anymore. I wouldn’t try this particular service again, even if it were free like my first week of Blue Apron. I will say that this was a complete photography success! I have been trying out my new Canon DSLR camera and being more bold with my Lightroom techniques.