These flexible subscription 100% plant-based recipe kits are simple to make and tasty to eat.
During lockdown cook at home kits became very popular, and we certainly tried quite a few here. From simple modest meals to make-your-own-Michelin, we tried them all, the latter proving mostly that fancy cooking is best left to the professionals.
Now as we are, perhaps briefly, allowed out again to eat, the desire for kits may reduce. Actually though they are still a good option.
Firstly they take away the ‘what shall we cook tonight?’ question and secondly you get exactly what you need for each meal with no waste and no buying spices you may never use again. I am looking at you ras el hanout.
Recipes to Rate
There are 50+ recipes in Grubby’s selection, all championing British produce with a meal donated to a child living in poverty for every box delivered, free nationwide delivery and a totally flexible subscription model.
We chose two meals, which arrived as promised in packaging that’s 100% recyclable, compostable and 95% produced in the UK. If you’re a Londoner, they’re also delivered by bike.
The meals come with a Spotify playlist for you to cook along to, which is kind of a cute idea but we don’t have a Spotify subscription, and anyway we’re vinyl based here. Keeping it real, yeah?
Recipe #43, Sweetcorn fritters, mango salsa and pan fried little gem
Everything really was included and just as well; we do happen to have Gram (chickpea) flour in our house but I doubt most people do – you should though, it’s a magic ingredient. Getting a ripe mango when you want it is never easy either, but props to Grubby as theirs was ready to go.
If you don’t know how to peel and dice a mango, you could be in trouble with this ingredient as no instructions are given but YouTube is, as usual, your friend. Mangos are tricky beasts.
This was a very easy cook, although our fritters made with the gram flour, sweetcorn and paprika, turned out a fraction underdone in the middle. Being plant-based this was not life threatening and was not really Grubby’s fault.
The mango salsa – mango, fresh chilli, coriander, lime and red onion was excellent – tart and hot and sweet all at the same time.
Recipe #67 Roasted med veg risotto and toasted seeds
We chopped and roasted aubergine, courgette and red pepper with paprika and olive oil (a good one this as it gave us twenty minutes sit down time). Then things got a bit odd.
I know how to make risotto and the instructions here confused me. Yes, they got the frying the onion and garlic off, then frying the dry rice for a bit correct, but then the plot got lost
With a risotto you add a small ladle of hot stock, stir until the rice absorbs it, then repeat until all the stock is used and the rice is cooked and it takes about twenty minutes . It’s tedious but necessary.
The instructions here got the ladle by ladle bit correct, but then said to cook on for a further twenty minutes. I could see no point in this, the rice would almost certainly burn. So I didn’t.
I would in fact have served this over couscous, which is an absolute doddle to ‘cook’ needing only ten minutes standing in boiled water.
This kit came with pumpkin seeds to toast and toss over, although they were so tasty we’d eaten most by the time the rice was ready.
All tasted very good though, very healthy as it also included nutritional yeast. We did add a bit of harissa, we love harissa, Grubby could include a bit of that.
grubby.co.uk
Verdict
Cook at home kits are not going away, in fact they may become bigger than ever. If you’re a veggie or would like to eat less meat then Grubby’s kits are just the ticket.
There’s even a student discount, which in my day was what we called shoplifting in Budgens, but here is a legal bonus.
Use the Grubby student discount code at the checkout to enjoy £30 OFF for 3 weeks.