After reviewing the Gousto food box, I’ve partnered with Tornado to bring you yet another food box review from Everdine!
Everdine touts itself as “clean eating made simple”, with delicious meals delivered to your home or office that you can take from freezer to plate in usually just 10 minutes. You simply select a plan with 8 or 12 clean, wholesome gourmet meals in each delivery, with options for vegetarians too.
To be honest, I’ve always thought of “clean eating” as another dietary fad, a buzzword thrown around by fitness accounts on Instagram by smiling perfect women with “Live Laugh Love” tattoos in a minimalist font on their wrists or “Eat Pray Love” on their walls; a lifestyle that requires a lot of effort and money to sustain and upkeep (maybe that was a tad bit bitter, but I’m so envious of this lifestyle!).
I’d like to think I’m pretty good with making sure I eat healthily, since I dislike having too much fried food or things that just get chucked in the oven. However, I’m a pretty lazy person when it comes to cooking- especially after getting home after a long day, all I want is for food to be sorted in a flash!
Most of my regular meals involve some sort of stir-fry with various vegetables and sometimes a bit of chicken, or something that sits in a pot like stew or pasta that I can whip up quickly. If it requires a lot of steps or ingredients, I am usually reluctant to start it unless I have time on weekends. I often indulge in junk food during the day too, which is probably not the best for someone trying to stick to a healthy diet.
I was initially a bit iffy after hearing it was frozen, as you always hear about frozen ready meals that never taste very good and how unhealthy they are. Oh boy, I was definitely proven wrong.
I received 8 meals, which were:
Speckled lentil chilli with parisienne potatoes, Cajun blackened salmon, Cherry & hoisin duck with wilted greens, Mediterranean cod, Coconut katsu chicken, Falafel shawarma, Smoky chicken fajitas, Slow cooked beef & beetroot bourguignon
Some general observations about these dishes:
They were so convenient, and definitely perfect to take to work and heat up in the microwave- a full balanced meal without any of the fuss or washing up! I would definitely recommend this to people with busy full-time jobs- £55.20 might be too steep a week if you’re on minimum wage and only working part-time and in university most of the time, like most of my peers.
I would probably not use this every week/ every two weeks but I can definitely see myself subscribing to this every time I run out- I would like a one-off delivery option, which Everdine does not do unfortunately. It took me awhile to go through all the boxes as I used them to supplement my regular cooked meals/ when I was too tired to cook, and I think that these boxes are perfect to have as a “just in case”, if you forgot to make a lunch to take with you, if you were too tired to cook, if you ran out of fresh food and it’s too late to get some groceries.
Luckily, these boxes coincided with the week I got back from my 3-week trip from Europe (more on that in a separate post), and I had some lovely meals before I got around to doing any grocery shopping.
A lot of these meals were a little bland for my liking, which makes sense if they tout themselves as a healthy option. It isn’t difficult to add a little salt and pepper, and I added some soy sauce and sesame oil to the noodles that came with the cherry & hoisin duck dish, since it was unseasoned. Kale featured a lot in these meals given its superfood status now- I have never been a fan but I am now a convert!
Everdine definitely pays attention to what dishes/ ingredients are trendy at the moment- cajun blackened salmon has been featured in three food boxes I’ve seen so far, and firm favourites like falafel, fajitas, pasta, and katsu all are available to choose from.
What it looks like
It comes with a film you pierce/ peel off (if you have extras you have to remove). This was the coconut katsu chicken, which I thought was pretty nice- I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the greens were: soybeans, pak choi added a refreshing balance to the chicken, and stopped it from being too dry.
Some of my other favourites- the beef and beetroot bourguignon was a delicious treat- I am definitely not a fan of beef and other heavy red meats due to the strong smell and taste (something I have not gotten used to from my 10+ years of being vegetarian). This meal was something I put in as a last resort because I did not want to try a meal I could whip up easily on my own. And gosh, it is definitely in my top 3 among all these lovely options! The beef is not too strong and the beetroot lends a bit of sweetness + tenderness to the meat. I am a huge fan of parsnips so the sides were excellent as well.
The cajun blackened salmon was also cooked to perfection and did not go to pieces when I attempted to flip it for a more even heating. This was seasoned just right and was really fragrant! The peppers on the side were chewy and sweet.
Convinced? Curious?
If you’d like to try out this box yourself, use this handy code for £25 off your first box! Here’s to a healthier diet with no stress or mess!