Marley Spoon: Tamari-Miso Beef Burgers & Indonesian Chicken Kebobs + $30 Off & Martha’s Thanksgiving Box!

So today we’re heading back to the kitchen with one of my Marley Spoon reviews. If you’d like to try it out this weekly meal subscription service for 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.

But before we get into the recipes, I have some news from Marley Spoon.  They are now offering a Martha Stewart’s Thanksgiving Box.
There are two box offerings each for 8 to 10 people:
Martha’s Thanksgiving Feast

Price: $179.00
Includes: 1 turkey, 3 sides & 1 Pie

Thanksgiving Sides & Desserts

Price: $119.00
Includes: 3 sides & 1 Pie
Recipes and Ingredients for:
Martha Stewart’s Turkey 101 with Gravy—only in “Martha’s Thanksgiving Feast” Box
Classic Stuffing with fresh herbs and dried cherries
Big Martha’s Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes a favorite from Martha’s mother
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with pomegranate & warm apple cider vinaigrette
An All-American Brown Butter Apple Pie
Included with your purchase is a 1 year (10 issue) subscription to Martha Stewart Living! See full magazine offer details in your Thanksgiving Day Box.

If I were hosting Thanksgiving, I’d definitely consider grabbing one of these boxes.  It would be wonderful to have all the Thanksgiving shopping just show up on time at my front door.  And I’ve made Martha Stewart’s mashed potatoes and I can attest that they are quite tasty.

Now onto the recipes!

Tamari-Miso Beef Burgers with Japanese-Seasoned Sweet Potato Fries
Download the recipe here.
Who can resist a burger?

Our usual fresh ingredients:

We start with lots of chopping.  Sweet potatoes get turned into fries, tossed with oil, seasoned and roasted in the oven.  When they are finished they get sprinkled with furikaki.   Cucumbers get sliced while beef, scallions, panko, miso and salt are mixed to create two patties.

We sear the burgers, then add cucumbers and mirin.  We make a tamari mixture then add that to the skillet, making sure to coat the patties with sauce.

We top the burgers with the cucumbers, tamari sauce and lettuce with our fries on the side.

Taste: Love!
I couldn’t believe how tasty these burgers were.  The cooking technique on them made them so juicy and delicious.  This was a pretty straightforward recipe as well. No too much chopping or too many pans or steps.  If I can find these ingredients again I would definitely make this in a heartbeat.  The only downside to point out is that the Japanese seasoning didn’t really adhere to the fries all that well and for me the taste wasn’t all that strong.  It was still quite good though.
Portion Size: Excellent
Good for Entertaining?: Yes.  I’d make this as part of a global pub style menu.  For an appetizer I’d serve a beer cheese dip with soft pretzels.  I’d probably also add some regular potatoes and do a mix of sweet and normal potatoes for the side dish.  Dessert would feature a boozy cupcake like these Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Buttercream.  Drinks would include an assortment of beer and hard cider along soft drinks.

Indonesian Chicken Kebabs with Pickled Cucumber and Coconut
Download the recipe here.
Who can say no to meat on a stick?  Plus I really wanted to try the rice that featured peanuts and coconut.

More fresh ingredients:

Unfortunately, I was missing one very important ingredient: the Indonesian curry powder.  I’m not sure what type of seasoning makes up an Indonesian curry so I opted not to try to substitute anything and just make the recipe without it.  I figured I could always add some type of seasoning later if it needed it.
So first we cut up our chicken and marinate it in soy sauce, salt, pepper and oil.

Meanwhile we chop up our onion and garlic and cook our rice.  The curry powder is supposed to go into the rice, but ours will just end up with salt for now.

Meanwhile we add vinegar and soy sauce to a bowl and let the cucumbers marinate.
We toast the peanuts and the coconuts in a small skillet and then after 2 minutes transfer them to a bowl.

We skewer the chicken and broil them in the oven.

We mix half the coconut peanut mixture in with our rice and then reserve the remainder to top the kebobs.
When we are done, we have this:

Taste: Love!
I don’t know how the curry powder would have transformed this dish, but I thought it was delicious on it’s own.  I couldn’t stop eating the coconut and peanut rice, and I will definitely try that as a side dish for other meals.  The prep on this wasn’t too difficult but it did have quite a few steps.  Personally I’d probably have marinated whole chicken breasts and grilled them, as I don’t think skewering them added much to the dish (except prep time).  The pickles weren’t too sour and added a lot of freshness.  This was well-balanced and healthy.  Another winner!
Portion Size: Excellent with extra rice
Good for Entertaining?: Yes, but I’d be sure marinate and prep the skewers well in advance, so I could toss them in the oven right when guests arrive.  For an appetizer, I’d make shrimp summer rolls with a peanut dipping sauce, and add on a fresh green salad with lemon dressing as a side.  Dessert would feature a coconut cake and drinks would include a spiked tropical punch and a passionfruit iced tea.

OVERALL
Verdict: Love!
I think this is my favorite Marley Spoon box to date.  I picked up techniques and recipes that I can use at other times and both were delicious and not too difficult to prepare.  The only downside to this box was the omission of the curry powder, but the rice didn’t suffer without it so I’m not complaining.

Have you tried any food subscriptions?
If so which one, and 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

Author: Writer Preziosi

Once upon a time, long, long ago, Lisa attended Syracuse University where she studied singing in a giant castle surrounded by ice and snow. After she earned her music degree, she headed to the island of Manhattan, down to the West Village, to a place called the New School. There, she earned another degree in the great art of writing stories for children. She currently works on that same island trying to help real people, while making up stories about imaginary ones. Her first book, “The Ice Maiden’s Tale,” a fairy tale adventure, was released on May 30, 2017 and is up for sale on Amazon. View all posts by Writer Preziosi