A foodie who prefers to freestyle in the kitchen tries a new approach.
I’m working full time and writing a book at night. My partner, meanwhile, is busy taking a Covid side hustle full-time. He still does most of the cooking at home, so when the opportunity came to try Bargain Box for a month it felt like perfect timing. Here’s a playback of some of our favourite meals across the month and our general thoughts on meal kit life.
Gnocchi with basil brightness
About once a year, I attempt homemade gnocchi. It’s a huge lift and fails 50% of the time (for me at least). When it works, though, it really works and this recipe totally did. Critically, the gnocchi was already made for me and the sauce – a blend of sour cream, basil, stock, lemon and dried herbs – was perfectly balanced and not overwhelmingly creamy or pesto forward. Layered with peas and finely shredded carrots, the final result was comforting yet light. The least stressful gnocchi I’ve made by far.
Spicy, sweet and sticky fried chicken
All the Bargain Box recipes are incredibly easy to follow. I was hungry and hurried though, so still managed to mess up a critical step in this one. Still, it was great. Fluffy, aromatic rice, topped with free range chicken coated in a sticky chilli sauce and sesame seeds. Crunchy slaw with pickled cucumbers and a sesame mayo dipping sauce rounded out the meal. It took me bang on 30 minutes to make, which was excellent in my time of rush and hanger. Throughout the month I was impressed to find that all of Bargain Box’s chicken is free range. And the rice! It’s delicious, aromatic, never sticks to the pot – I want to fill my pantry with it, and will be getting in touch with them to find the source.
Taco Tuesday
I am a very slow cook. Like, 100-hour lasagna slow. So a Taco Tuesday dinner that promised 20 minutes of prep sounded impossible to me. It took me 30, but that’s still less time than it usually takes me to cook brekkie. Great result for the time spent too – spicy, smoky mince tacos with a cooling ranch dressing and veges on top. The recipe also offered a great hack – toast up your tortillas on the gas hob if you’ve got one. It’s a huge level up, I learned.
Speedy stir-fry with super fluffy rice
In a pinch, I can make a super generic stir-fry with whatever vege I have on hand, a protein, dashes of many sauces and rice. The end result has never been more than four-out-of-10 good. This one though was at least a seven in terms of flavour, texture and time-to-make. Crunchy baby corns, bok choy, carrots and juicy beef cooked just right thanks to very short yet very clear instructions. The sauce was built around kecap manis – a thick, sweetened and spiced soy sauce that is a staple in Indonesian cuisine. We enjoyed how this month of meal kitting introduced a few new-to-us ingredients to our pantry.
Spinach and feta tray bake
Meatballs are a fan favourite in our house, so I felt excited but slightly dubious about this recipe: baked spinach and feta balls. They were so easy to make though: roughly chop baby spinach, mix with flour, egg and two kinds of cheese. Then bake in the rich cherry tomato sauce. This dish turned out so well – the spinach provided nice structure and offered plenty of surface area to carry the melty feta and parmesan. It was served over fresh baby spinach and with an entire loaf of garlic bread for mopping up the rich tomato sauce. This dish, and several of my other Bargain Box faves, showed me that their recipe R&D team is really onto it when it comes to sourcing the exact right ingredients. The canned cherry tomatoes provided here, for example, were a deep, vibrant red and the baby spinach was crisp yet delicate. This dish made with normal sized spinach just wouldn’t have been the same.
Butterflied lamb roast and green mash
Nothing says “roast for dinner” like a rainy winter’s day. Auckland has had plenty of these recently, so I was very happy with our last week’s meal kit lineup. The star? A butterflied lamb roast. It was delicious – tender, juicy, flavoursome and sourced from Neat Meat, a small-scale, Queenstown-based butcher. As we chowed down I wondered why we’d never bought this cut at the supermarket. I went online later and found my answer: it’s close to $60/kg. Bargain Box bills itself as New Zealand’s affordable meal kit, and it sure felt that way when comparing the flavour, quality and convenience of it all to the supo.
The buttery, onion forward gravy that went with this tasty roast was a perfect pairing as was the green pea, broccoli mash – an easy, healthy side dish. “I am so into this broccoli pea mash,” my partner said, “there’s just so much green on the plate.” It’s now a new side dish in our repertoire. We paired this luxe lamb roast with a little mid-week glass of red wine, super cosy. It felt like a date.
Takeaway dupes
One thing that’s fun about meal-kitting is the excitement for arrival. I’d get a text from Bargain Box letting me know mine was on the way. And then, as if by magic, it would land on my porch at the absolute perfect time – 4pm on a Sunday arvo, which is about an hour before my anxiety for the week ahead really sets in, especially if we haven’t done our food shop yet. One Bargain Box recipe genuinely lifted me out of my Sunday scaries: a crispy chicken “takeaway dupe”. It had four lovely components: lightly spicy, crispy chicken wings plus creamy mash, tasty gravy and a bright beetroot coleslaw. All ready in about 40 mins and all at the exact right time – the recipes ensure you don’t end up with a piping-hot main ready to be served and a yet-to-be-assembled salad (this happens to me all the time normally). Anyways, this dish – it did actually reminded me of takeaway fried chicken, and helped soothe my Sunday scaries.
