Plated

Plated.Com

I love this concept.  I kept seeing ads for it on on facebook and decided to give it a try.  Each week, there are 7 choices of meals (4 meat and/or fish options and 3 vegetarian options).

There was a trial on facebook that allowed you to get 4 meals (2 each of 2 different types of meals) for the price of $20, when all was said and done.  I had to get a membership (which can be cancelled after the one month) and pay shipping.

One of the meals, I chose was Spice-Rubbed Steak with Roasted Carrots and Israeli Couscous.  The company sends you all the ingredients you need except water, the utensils (which are very common, like a pot, a knife, and a mixing spoon), olive oil, salt, and pepper.

This meal came with exact amounts of ingredients (carrots, shallot, mint, flank steak, butter, honey, ground cumin, chipotle powder, sweet paprika, Israeli couscous) needed for the meal.  The website claims that the ingredients are fresh and local when possible.

Here's my before picture.

The directions are SUPER easy to follow and contain pictures.  If you follow the directions everything is finished about the same time.  It is also not too time consuming.  I would say everything including cooking and preparation takes less than an hour.  

Here is my after picture.  It seriously tasted like a gourmet, "fancy" restaurant quality meal. I had never made any of the items before.  I was quite pleased.  

My other meal was Sicilian Style Swordfish with Parsley Garlic Potatoes.  Once again, they gave me all the ingredients needed, which were yellow onion, garlic, divided, sun-dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, basil parsley, divided, Yukon Gold potatoes, swordfish, white wine, and crushed red pepper.  

Here's the before picture.   

And here's the after picture.  Both meals were the most gourmet thing that I have ever cooked.  

I love the idea.  The price is a bit high for me to do regularly.  It was worth the promotion.  After the promotion, the monthly fee is $10 a month, and then each meal is $12.  It's not a bad deal, but it wasn't worth it for me.  

I recommend trying it out!