Since a year and a half ago when I first wrote about Chefs Plate, the meal delivery service has expanded significantly. Back then, Chefs Plate only delivered within Ontario, however, because of its amazing success, people in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba can now also enjoy Chefs Plate (Twitter: @chefsplate, Facebook: Chefs Plate).
If you've never heard of or tried Chefs Plate, this is your chance, especially if you use my super awesome referral tag (more about that later). In a nutshell, Chefs Plate is a subscription service that delivers chef-designed recipes and fresh ingredients right to your door step each week. The best part is that there is no subscription or membership fee to join, and you can skip a week or cancel anytime. You can choose the delivery date that works best for you too, and you don't have to be at home to receive the delivery either. Their refrigerated boxes are packed with ice packs and insulated liners to ensure your ingredients will stay fresh for the full delivery day, even if you're not home to accept the delivery.
Chefs Plate's recipes begin at $10.95 per plate for the 2-Person Plan, which features 7 unique, chef-designed meals each week, and $9.75 per plate for the Family Plan, which features 4 unique family-friendly meals. New recipes created by Chefs Plate's culinary team and guest chefs are introduced every week, and feature land, sea and veggie options. For ingredients, all you need is salt, pepper and olive oil. For cooking equipment, all you need are standard pots, pans and knives. Chefs Plate will provide everything else.
Use my Referral Link / Promo Code and receive $80 off your first three boxes ($40 off 1st box, $20 off 2nd box, $20 off 3rd box)!
All their dishes are balanced and nutritious. Chefs Plate uses farm-fresh ingredients sourced from local Canadian business. Meats are antibiotic and hormone free, and ingredients are pre-portioned for each recipe so there's no waste. All of their packaging, including gel packs, is also 100% recyclable.
Already want to give Chefs Plate a try? Then use my referral link / promo code to get $80 off throughout your first 3 boxes! If you still need convincing, then read on to see the two delectable meals I made from my recent Chefs Plate delivery. I'm confident that you'll be convinced :)
This particular delivery was from a 2-person plan with 2 recipes. Each recipe makes two servings. I picked the Steak and Roasted Red Pepper Salsa and Chicken Puttanesca Linguine. My friend and I are both carnivores and we love our carbs, so these two recipes were the most attractive ones from the recipe collection that week.
CHICKEN PUTTANESCA LINGUINE
with tomatoes, Kalama olives, capers and zucchini
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 30 mins
Calories Per Serving: 650
THE SCOOP
"Puttanesca is a vibrant dish from Naples where hallmarks of southern Italian cuisine take a starring role. We add tender zucchini and golden seared chicken for heartiness. Fresh linguine pasta swirls together in a rich tomato sauce spiked with olives and bright capers."
COOKING TIP
"This vegetable-filled sauce is packed with flavour - but there is a trick to get the balance of flavours just right. Stir in the olives and capers at the very end. This preserves their flavour and provides an earthy, salty bite!"
Fresh pasta! Tastes great and only took two minutes to cook.
This Chicken Puttanesca Linguine recipe was very quick and easy to make. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first because it seemed almost too easy. "How can it possibly taste good?", I thought. I was soon proven wrong. The salty capers and olives really enhanced the tangy tomato sauce, and the fresh pasta here made a huge difference to this simple dish - the noodles was tender yet still firm to the bite. Yummm. I think we overcooked the chicken a bit but that wasn't a big deal - the soft zucchini made up for it.
This next recipe took a bit more time...
STEAK AND ROASTED RED PEPPER SALSA
with oregano potatoes and garlic broccolini
Difficulty: Hard
Prep Time: 35 mins
Calories Per Serving: 520
THE SCOOP
"Steak gets a burst of fresh flavours with a unique roasted red pepper salsa, crispy oregano potato wedges and broccolini. This recipe takes salsa to the next level as you roast a red bell pepper and tomato, smashing them for a juicy, chunky texture. Broccolini quickly transforms into crispy garlicky spears tender on the inside from a quick roast at high heat. Count on this dish to deliver elegance and simplicity."
COOKING TIP
"Roasting the vegetables brings out the natural sweetness and begins to caramelize the flavours. Get your baking sheet to play double duty by roasting the pepper and tomato before adding the broccolini, allowing perfect cook time for each vegetable."
A few of the potato wedges got burnt, specifically the ones that were cut a bit too thin so they couldn't stay up, skin side down, on the baking sheet. Overall, they turned out great, just like the veggies. For whatever reason, we couldn't get the skin off the red pepper so we just left them on for the salsa. Also, the roasting caused the smoke detector in the condo to go off a couple of times. It happened when we opened/closed the oven door to take the trays in/out.
We wanted to see how the dish would look like if we plated everything on one plate instead of two, so TADA! All the food barely fit and the plate was really heavy; I guess that's not surprising since the recipe is supposed to be for two people. But let's face it, it looks gorgeous! Taste wise, I really liked everything. The seasoned potato wedges turned out extremely crisp, and I enjoyed the broccolini roasted (I've never roasted vegetables at home so maybe I'll start!). The bright and colourful salsa was a delight and perfect for the summer. I think it tied everything together and made the plate extra appetizing and delicious. By the way, we both like our steak rare, sometimes even blue, so it was this red on purpose!
I was really happy with the two recipes and meals. Both recipes exceeded my expectations! We also found the indicated "Difficulty Level" and "Prep Time" to be pretty accurate, which are both important factors when it comes to picking out recipes.
So, go ahead, what's there to lose? Especially when you can get three plates FREE and can cancel at any time!
Use my Referral Link / Promo Code and receive $80 off your first three boxes ($40 off 1st box, $20 off 2nd box, $20 off 3rd box)!
*The Chefs Plate ready-to-cook meals were sent to me for free. The opinions and views expressed on this post are my own*