I’ve been following the ‘cook your own meal kit at home’ trend for a while now. The two (US-based) podcasts I’ve been listening to religiously the past couple of months has got such a home cooking kit supplier as one of their sponsors, and it always sounded like a pretty cool option to me.
These type of meal kits takes the effort out of specifically:
1) the effort of menu planning for the week and
2) to go from store to store gathering the various ingredients listed in the collection of recipes.
Sometimes there’s just not enough hours in the day!
With all this in the back of my mind, I was thrilled when I was asked if I’m keen to try out one of the newly launched ShelfSquad’s Cookbox meals. Yes, please!
So what is this service all about?
Cookbox offers you the option of ordering a few meal kits online, for delivery straight to your home. This box of ingredients, plus instructions/recipes gives you the opportunity to cook and prepare tasty meals at home without the hassle of shopping, etc! Currently, this service is currently available in Centurion, Midrand and Pretoria East. They offer the options of family meals, low-carb, vegan and vegetarian meals with the option of serving 2 or 4 persons. https://shelfsquad.com/product-category/shop/cookbox/
When offered the choice of meals to try out, I decided to venture outside my comfort zone a bit and try one of the vegetarian meals. Nope, I’m not vegetarian and I probably ordered it on #MotivationalMonday while feeling in the mood for healthier options. This is another good reason to try out the Cookbox actually – to experiment with new tastes and dishes, instead of making the same boring meatballs over and over again.
My choice, the Tandoori Cauliflower Cookbox!
So, a day or so later my Cookbox arrived, all the ingredients and the recipe neatly packed and portioned together. I couldn’t wait to unpack! The boxes are designed and packed that the contents will keep cool for about 4 hours, but why wait!
All that lovely, fresh (and locally sourced) ingredients! The Cookbox meals can stay fresh in your fridge for about a week (chicken and fish a little less of course), but I wasn’t even tempted to leave this for the next day – I was ready to get cooking!
As mentioned previously, all the ingredients needed for the recipe are already portioned and prepped, so you really just have to get cooking. The recipe card is also printed on durable cardboard, so you don’t have to bother with printed pages or online versions. It also lists the ingredients supplied, as well as what you need to provide – this includes basic tools like pots, pans and staples like oil, salt and pepper. The recipe is in step-by-step format. Easy peasy.
Tandoori Cauliflower – recipe by Chris Joubert
A note – the Cookbox meal kits are available in 2 or 4 person servings. Because I blindly trusted the contents of the box, I didn’t weigh or check any of the measurements. The recipe provided is for 2 servings. Looking at the huge amount of food I got out of this, I’m pretty sure the meal kit was supposed to be for 4 persons. Yay. Leftovers!
Step 1: Preheat oven to 180C
Step 2: In a pan, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil (I have to note now that, if you haven’t gathered so already, the Cookbox meals leans strongly towards the ‘healthy’ option, which is a good selling point as well). Add 500g cauliflower and sear until a golden brown
Step 3: Blend 500g beetroot until a smooth consistency in a blender adding a bit of water to achieve a paste-like consistency (I could have blended the beetroot a bit smoother, and added a few drops of water. I guess I was just over-excited! So learn from me – take your time and read!)
Step 4: Crumble 50g mixed nuts in a blender. Then coat the cauliflower portions with the nut crumble and chili powder.
Step 5: Lay the cauliflower on a baking tray (I lined the tray with foil and used non-stick cooking spray – just in case) along with the butternut and cook through in the oven (about 30 minutes). Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper!
Step 6: In a pot, at medium heat, add 200ml vinegar, 50g sugar and 100g mustard seeds
Step 7: Once the sugar has been dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil, add 300g sliced cabbage and let boil for 8 minutes.
Step 8: After the cabbage has been cooked, you can remove the baking tray from the oven
Step 9: Serve the items creatively and enjoy the spicy meal!
Voila!
I really enjoyed this beautiful, colourful meal. I’m not a fan of beetroot but I should have checked before choosing the meal, BUT it did motivate me to use an ingredient I don’t usually do, so all is good! It was indeed lovely, full of flavour and spicy, the perfect meal to warm you up on a cool winter’s day. I saw a few other meals (like the halloumi wrap and shepherd’s pie) that I’d love to try, so there are other options available. Good job guys!
Why don’t you check out the time-saving serve https://shelfsquad.com/? As an added bonus, use the code FOFD01 and get FREE delivery on your first order.
