Simply Cook – October 2016
Unlike most other subscription boxes you will find on BestSubBox, Simply Cook doesn’t actually require a subscription. You can order as many boxes as you want as often as you want and receive them almost immediately. Each box contains 4 recipe kits designed for 2-3 people each, all for £8.99 per box. Your first box will be chosen for you by Simply Cook but after that you can log into your account and choose whatever recipes you want to receive or leave it as is and keep it a surprise! Simply Cook also give you a shopping list for the other ingredients you will need to buy to complete each dish.
If you just want to know our overall opinion of Simply Cook…
“Simply Cook will deliver authentic flavour ingredients, hand-picked and blended by expert chefs to allow you to put together fantastic meals in only 15 to 20 minutes. With over 50 recipes from around the globe you are bound to find a hidden gem that you won’t be able to get enough of!”
Want to see what we have eaten this month? Keep reading…
First up was Vietnamese Pork with Pak Choi and rice:
Cooking time: Around 20 minutes
Calories: Approx. 645 per serving
Rating: 4.5/5
Opinion: I have started with one of my favourite dishes from this month. The Vietnamese glaze for the pork was delicious and was great in combination with the tender pork. I had also never had pak choi before: I was a bit unsure what it would taste like when I first saw it but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, not to mention how well it went with the pork. While I had it with rice this time I think I will try it with noddles next time I get this delivered to mix it up a bit.
Next from Simply Cook is Thai Red Prawn Curry:
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Calories: Approx. 570 per serving.
Rating: 4/5
Opinion: So, the recipe included prawns, jasmine rice, red peppers, coconut milk and sweet cherry tomatoes. I decided after seeing photos of this online to only use half the coconut milk it suggests as I prefer a thicker sauce instead of the soup like consistency you can see above. Really liked the flavour of this dish and would definitely order it again, I would possibly try it with chicken next time too see which I prefer.
The third dish I made was Hot Cajun Meatballs:
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Calories: Approx. 650 per serving
Rating: 4/5
Opinion: I always find hot food to be a hit or miss. I either find it too hot and overpowering or just nice and spicy. I can thankfully say this was the latter, it definitely had a kick but was not too hot that it ruined the dish. I would say this dish heavily relies on the quality of meatballs you buy, don’t cheap out on your choice of meatballs and you should definitely enjoy this dish. As far as the dishes go this month, this was definitely the simplest to prepare as it you literally just had to mix all the ingredients together and mix together with the cooked meatballs.
Lastly, Simply Cook’s take on Bokkeumbap:
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Calories: Approx 400 per serving
Rating: 3.5/5
Opinion: If you are anything like me you will probably not have heard of Bokkeumbap before. It is a Korean stir-fried rice dish containing cabbage, spring onions, crispy/sticky rice, fried egg and spices. I have mixed feelings of this dish, while the flavours were pleasant, I was left feeling there was something missing from it but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I’m not saying I would never make this again but it will likely be a while before I thought of getting this in one of my boxes again.
Overall opinion:
I was very happy with my Simply Cook box this month and will definitely be ordering some of these recipes again in future boxes. While I was not overly impressed by the Bokkeumbapp, the Hot Cajun Meatballs had a great balance of spice and flavour and the Vietnamese Pork is probably one of my new favourite dishes! If you are worried about not having the culinary skills to make some of these dishes I really just have to say DON’T BE!. Honestly, these dishes and recipes are so simple to follow that you could have next to no cooking experience. This box is great for those people that want to try new dishes but don’t want to spend a lot.
If you are interested in trying Simply Cook for yourself feeling free to check them out here.