Recently I was contacted by the lovely people at Hello Fresh and asked if I would like to give their service another go. Of course I jumped at the chance, three days of not having to worry about what to cook? Er…yes please! So the following Monday a box of Hello Fresh goodies arrived at my door with a rather nice hand written note. It also turns out that Hello Fresh are celebrating their one year birthday. Eagerly I opened the box to see what I would be preparing for that week. Inside was all the ingredients to make a chicken, fish and pork based meal. Below you can see how I got on:
Day 1 – I decided to cook that night the Smoked Paprika Chicken with Avocado and Barley Salad.
Ingredients ready to cook.
Not having to worry about not having the right amount of ingredients was great and as you can see they were indeed fresh!
Cucumber, tomatoes, celery
First part of the recipe of consisted of chopping the vegetables, I’m not the best chopper so they are a little bigger than the recipe states but I don’t think it mattered very much.
Then I prepared the chicken by covering it with olive oil, paprika and black pepper and then placing it under the grill. I think I am definitely going to start using paprika to flavour my meat it gave the chicken an amazing taste!
Chicken covered with paprika
Then I boiled the pearl barley, which was probably the most nerve-wracking part as I have never cooked or eaten this before so I was a bit worried it would go wrong.
This was then drained and rinsed and put to one side. For the salad dressing I mixed balsamic vinegar and olive oil together. To finish I mixed the chopped avocado and the rest of the vegetables together with the balsamic dressing . I then sliced the cooked chicken and laid it on top. Below is the finished dish which tasted unbelievable! My mother who is the most critical person of my cooking couldn’t get enough of it and we have decided to add it to our weekly dinner schedule at home. I think this dish is great if you are looking for something fuss free and easy and even if you don’t like cooking you will find this easy to prepare.
Day 2 – I decided to make the Ribollita with pancetta and Garlic Parmesan croutons
Ribollita with Pancetta and Garlic Parmesan Croutons
Ribollita with Pancetta and Garlic Parmesan Croutons
This was probably for me the most fiddly and time-consuming dish to prepare but it was also the most filling. Ribollita is perfect for when the weather is chilly as it is sure to give you the energy needed to keep you warm. Unfortunately because I had used all the celery in my first recipe I had to forgo it for the Ribollita, although I don’t think it was that detrimental as the dish still tasted lovely.
Day 3 – Pan-fried Salmon with homemade Guacamole and New Potatoes
With this recipe I’m not too sure what happened, but maybe I should have cooked my salmon dish first because when I checked the salmon I wasn’t sure it was still OK to eat. It doesn’t help that my fridge can be dodgy. I ended up throwing away the salmon and going to purchase a new one. With fish I’d rather be safe than sorry.
Pan-fried Salmon with homemade Guacamole and New Potatoes
The finished dish tasted amazing, the guacamole gave the salmon a spicy edge, and the potatoes were a nice accompaniment. The dish also felt really easy to whip together. I could definitely see myself attempting to make this again.
Overall I really enjoyed my Hello Fresh experience, it was nice to not have to worry about having the right ingredients in the fridge and even for someone who doesn’t think myself much of a good cook, I was quite pleased with my attempts. I will definitely be adding the pan-fried salmon and the smoked paprika to my recipe book.
If you want to try Hello Fresh for yourself visit their website: www.hellofresh.co.uk
