Step Up To The Plate : Plated, round 3

You know what sounded fun? An Iron Chef style competition where the boy and I each made a meal and everyone got to choose the best one at dinner. You know what's not fun? Rancid pineapple, Chinese broccoli, and losing.

Blue Apron's Orange Shrimp and Broccoli soundly stomped Plated's Sticky Pineapple Chicken that was not in fact sticky. The fresh pineapple they sent had taken a turn, so I replaced it with some from the pantry. The chicken was cooked, and then sliced, which seemed so odd for a stir-fry type dish and tasted even stranger. The sauce was more of a seasoning than anything. Turns out we all dislike Chinese broccoli, even though we love broccoli and broccolini. Total dinner fail. Thank goodness we had the yummy orange shrimp to console ourselves with.



We ordered the Hoisin Duck Buns because duck and Chinese buns. The buns and duck patties were a hit. The carrot fires? A mushy miss. I loved the ginger slaw, the kids did not. They did however love the buns themselves. Luckily the recipe leaves a few leftover for straight up munching.

Baked Calamari with Garlic Breadcrumbs and Papas Bravas. Now that is one long recipe title! I tend to think of calamari as an Italian dish. Our whole family can clear two plates of the stuff in under five minutes. But making it at home felt daunting and I loathe to fry just about anything. But this was baked, and while I remained skeptical, worth a shot.

This was AMAZING. Like whoa, we must recreate this amazing. Creamy fingerling potatoes are roasted until golden, calamari is tossed with breadcrumbs and baked, spinach wilts over the hot potatoes, and a creamy-smoky sauce is drizzled over with lemon and parsley and OH MY WOW. If you see it on Plated, you have to order it.

This is the issue with Plated. Some dishes are garbage-worthy, others knock your socks off. When the ingredients are on, they're fantastic. And other times your pineapple is rotten and stuff is growing on the garlic.

*This post has three recipes because I got my stuff mixed up on week one. Not that it matters, really. I paid for this experiment myself. Plated doesn't know me and neither does Blue Apron. They should, I'm a delight.

For more of our Plated journey...

If you want to try Plated, here's a link to a free box...

See what we thought of other meal kits...