Vegetarian Corn and Squash Chowder - Plated

I recently had the opportunity to try a new company out... Plated.  This company is similar to those subscription type services that send you weekly meals, but at the same time, are completely unique.  First of all, the week before you want your groceries delivered, you look at their website and check out the upcoming menu.  You must order a 2 plate minimum per meal and a 4 plate minimum per order.  It is extremely simple. http://www.plated.com

After selecting your meals, all you do is wait.  The following week, the meals will be delivered either on Monday or Tuesday (depending on your US location).  Everything comes in a cooler with ice packs and insulation.  All of the ingredients have labels and are essentially portioned out to perfection.  Not only that, Plated actually threw in a special tool for my meal (a corn de-kerneler) which was AMAZING!  That surprise made the entire order worth it.

Each dish comes with a card with a picture of the meal, recipe and instructions on the back, time to complete, and difficulty level.  Most of the ingredients are pre-chopped or sliced, so it can be as simple as adding the ingredients to the pot and allowing it to cook.

Overall, I thought the meal was delicious.  The portion size was enormous.  Somehow I ordered to plates worth of the soup, but it was definitely enough to feed 3-4 people.  The cooking time was short and the difficult was very easy.  All of the squash was pre-peeled and cubed, possibly taking some of the fun out of cooking, but at the same time giving me extra time to finish up some last minute work.  The soup itself was very rich and creamy... I think maybe they can offer a lighter version--substituting low fat cream instead of the heavy cream they provided.  Also, a little extra baguette wouldn't hurt.

There was still half the amount left in the pot after these two servings!

Following the meal, my friends and I were wondering what could have made this meal that much better.  All we thought about was dessert.  My suggestion would be to throw in a couple of pre-portioned cookie dough balls so the customer could throw them into the oven and having a freshly baked cookie for dessert.  I don't think that would cause too much inconvenience or be too pricey for Plated to do.  I loved the idea of having groceries shipped to my house and ready for cooking.  I highly recommend others to use their service, especially if grocery shopping isn't your forte.  I truly had a wonderful experience with Plated and be on the look out for another amazing meal from them in the near future.