You ever been so stressed your body just starts getting mad at you? I spent all of Sunday with my left eye twitching. Ever had your eye twitch for an entire day? If Gypsy curses were real, I swear that’s what they’d do t you. So today, I figure I’ll feature something super comforting—food, so let’s head back to the kitchen for a review of my weekly Marley Spoon subscription box. If you’d like to try it out yourself, use the coupon code COOKSMART for $30 off.
My meal plan is for a weekly delivery of 2 meals (2 portions each), which costs $48.
Pineapple Soy Marinated Steak with Sesame Beets
Marley Spoon always sends amazing meat and a pineapple marinade sounded great so I opted to give this one a shot.
Our usual fresh ingredients:
We marinate the steak, then chop and slice a lot of ginger.
We also need to rinse the beets including the greens, and slice them up.
While the beets and greens steam, we make a dressing using vinegar, sesame oil, salt & pepper and half the ginger.
The steak is done marinating so we cook it up, then allow it to rest and slice it.
When we’re done, the dish looks like this:
Taste: Good
I liked the marinade on the steak and I thought it was very tasty with just a hint of the pineapple flavor. Unfortunately, the side dish of beets not as appealing. I feel like roasting the beets would have brought out more flavor and the greens shrunk down so much there just wasn’t enough of them in there.
Portion Size: Very good. Enough steak per person and way more beets then you need.
Good for Entertaining?: Yes, but only the steak portion. I’d make the steak again and serve it with a side of coconut rice and a mango black bean salad. For a cocktail, I’d go with piña coladas to match the hint of pineapple in the steak. Appetizers would be something fresh, like a shrimp summer roll. Dessert would highlight a tropical fruit like a mango cheesecake.
Thai Herb & Pork Salad with Radish and Carrots
I don’t cook pork that often – particularly ground pork, so I thought I’d give this a try.
More fresh ingredients:
We prep the vegetables and then brown our pork.
We stir in fish sauce and half the lime juice, and this is where it gets…stinky. My boyfriend actually shouted. “What is that stench!” When I replied that it’s fish sauce, he answered, “Why does it stink that bad! Open a window!”
Honestly, it really did smell like feet and death.
Next we make the salad and serve it on a giant platter. We have to pick mint and basil leaves from stems, because no Marley Spoon box is complete without a really tedious task.
Our giant, stinky salad:
Taste: Meh
Thankfully this tasted better than it smelled, but it just wasn’t all that compelling. I think it would have benefited from some peanuts or a tropical fruit like pineapple or mango. Just something to punch up the flavor and interest.
Portion Size: Very Generous
Good for Entertaining?: Nope. It’s not interesting and cooking it would stink up the house.
OVERALL
Verdict: Boring
Let’s start with the positives – the steak was lovely, all the ingredients were fresh, and neither of these recipes were particularly complicated. Unfortunately, I found the side dish on the steak to be rather lackluster and the pork dish to be unremarkable. I feel like if you’re going to feature a salad for a main dinner in a meal sub, it really needs to be something special. I’ve gotten a bit pickier with skipping weeks for recipes that don’t thrill me so we’ll see if those are more to my taste.
Have you ever tried a fresh meal subscription service? If so, what did you think?
THE BACKSTORY
Marley Spoon creates delicious, easy to follow recipes.
They deliver fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and you select your recipes from their changing weekly menu.
They are dedicated to sourcing organic and sustainable whenever possible. Building relationships with environmentally aware farms and producers ensures that the highest quality ingredients arrive at your door each week.
Using trusted delivery partners, your Marley Spoon boxes come insulated and chilled, staying cool for 30 hours! After delivery, all the ingredients are guaranteed to stay fresh for up to 4 days – allowing you to decide when to cook.
Marley’s Spoon donates any leftover ingredients to City Harvest. City Harvest exists to end hunger in communities throughout New York City through food rescue and distribution, education, and other practical, innovative solutions.
Each week you’ll automatically receive great dishes, but as a flexible subscription, you can skip a week or pause your subscription anytime. You can also change delivery frequency, recipes, and the number of portions you’d like to receive.
Marley’ Spoon delivers to the mid Atlantic and New England regions: most of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Washington D.C.
Monthly Cost:
Varies by number of servings and number of meals.
Check here for the configuration of your choice
COUPON CODE: COOKSMART
Lisa Preziosi 