I asked about stuff like that non-recyclable foam insulation or Nordic ice. I inspected a few of the meal kit companies' websites and called some of them. "Whatever it is, they don't want it going down the drain," said Elisabeth, as she heaved the remaining bags into the trash.Īs she did this, I imagined all the other meal kit customers around the world doing the same thing and thought that if she and I were playing some eco-warrior role-playing game, this would be the point our characters would have been slain by an orc. "What's in that stuff?" I wondered aloud. It made such a mess that I felt like I was gutting a fish.
I got really uncomfortable with that about halfway through my first recipe. Blue Apron also provided a chopped chicken breast in a vacuum-sealed package shaped like a whole chicken breast, which just felt wrong.īut that packaging-the gobs and gobs of packaging all four companies used-the four sprigs of parsley in a tiny coffin of plastic, the dime bags of rice flour, the little jars with a tablespoon of mayo, everything but the sturdiest of ingredients in some sort of plastic something, all sitting on top of those pounds and pounds of ice packs, all encased in that "disposable cooler" made of some typically non-recyclable foamy substance and encased in silver bubble wrap? All of it being created for me, and racking up extra shipping miles in the name of convenience?
Notable missteps were found with Blue Apron's goat cheese and yogurt, both of which were mealy and tasted like bland cream cheese.
Occasionally something would be on the usable side of wilting. Ingredient quality for every meal I tried was staunchly middle of the road, like what you could buy at every Safeway in America in the winter, with the exotic addition of a lime leaf or tamari sauce. They also tended to up the ante on my weeknight cooking. With the exception of one dud, every meal I tried in all of my testing was pretty darn tasty, with well-tested and flavorful recipes that, give or take 10 minutes, could be cooked in the estimated time, usually 30 to 60 minutes.
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