Hello Fresh returns | Our fourth box

A new year calls for new habits, and I’m going to read through my recipe books for some mealtime inspiration, because we are seriously lacking at the moment. I also need to delve through my old Hello Fresh recipes, and decide which ones I would like to keep, to recreate at home.

Tonight, I’m sharing the meals we made from our fourth box. This was genuinely back in November, so apologies for the delay. I really enjoy sharing these posts because the recipes are easy to recreate and I’m hoping it will at least inspire someone else.

So, what did I cook?

Monday:        Creamy mushroom pasta, with balsamic dressed rocket

For someone that used to actually despise mushrooms, I really enjoyed this. It wasn’t as good as the rich truffle mushroom pasta I blogged about before, but it was really filling. Perhaps I enjoyed it more because I didn’t have to cook it – Ash gave me the night off. Nothing beats creamy pasta in the winter and the dressed rocket added a bit of freshness. It’s a recipe that could quite easily be recreated at home – and in fact, it’s given me some inspiration for meat free Monday!

I rated this dish 3/4

Tuesday:       Cheese & caramelised onion pork steaks, with wedges and garlicky greens

I really enjoyed this meal, and again, it could have been because I didn’t have to cook it. I was clearly a lucky girl this week. I make something similar which is equally as delicious, topping a pork steak with green pesto, sliced tomato and melted gorgonzola. But here, I loved the sweet caramelised onion chutney with the cheddar. It’s another recipe I should really give a go at home. Now I’ve got an air-fryer (it’s what I asked for, for Christmas), I’m going to do homemade chips or wedges more often. These wedges weren’t done enough for my liking, but it still gets top marks!

I rated this dish 4/4

Wednesday:   Crispy chicken and Bombay-style potatoes, with garlicky green beans and raita

Honestly, just give me all the potatoes and garlicky veg! It was a complete coincidence (or bad planning) that we had these two dishes back-to-back. But from this recipe, garlicky green beans have been an absolute revelation! I only ever boil green beans for roast dinners now, always opting to fry them in loads of garlic! This felt like such a midweek treat, because it was almost like an Indian fakeaway. The chicken was spiced beautifully, but the raita was a real highlight – and really complemented both the chicken and the potatoes. It was another winner!

I rated this dish 4/4

Thursday:      Peri peri pork and black bean stew, with garlicky chorizo ciabatta

I made this stretch to three portions, cooking for Alfie too. There was plenty of stew, and while the ciabatta could feed three, it did mean there was a lot of extra sauce that needed mopping up. With Alfie in mind, I did one half of the ciabatta without the cubes of chorizo – and then of course, he wanted the sausage-y bread. I told him that dinner was sausage and bean stew, which wasn’t a total lie, and he actually ate it… but of course, I made sure I didn’t give him any of the sliced pepper. It was enjoyable, so warming and not too spicy. Not my favourite, but tasty, nonetheless.

I rated this dish 3/4

Friday: Hoisin sticky chicken thighs, with roasted broccoli and red onion

Fakeaway Friday at its very best… this was another hit in our house. The sticky baked chicken was so flavoursome, and surprisingly, hadn’t dried out in the oven. The hoisin glaze just stuck to the jasmine rice and was delicious. Roasted broccoli is one of my favourite Hello Fresh finds, but I wasn’t a fan of the large onion wedges – sliced would have been better. As a whole, this was really tasty, and the portion was huge!

I rated this dish 4/4

With three meals getting full marks, and no recipe cards receiving two stars or fewer, I would say this box was a resounding success – and dare I say it, the best box yet! Of the three, I really couldn’t choose my dish of the week.

Since writing this post and contemplating going back to Hello Fresh, to curb my mealtime planning crisis, I’ve received a voucher code. A First box (back – again) for 50% off, with the second at 30% off and then the third and fourth at 10% off. Do I go for it? I was massively considering it with lockdown, but I went to Tesco earlier and the shops are nowhere near as bad as March, so now I’m torn.

Love, Lucy xx

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