Farro Foodkits

The week we ordered WOOP meals in, it was reassuring to know we could have dinner after work in no more than 20 minutes. On the other hand, it felt like we chose a bad week compared to other bloggers, and we would not have picked some the meals we received if we had been given a choice.

For the sake of comparison, we decided to give another meal kit delivery service a go. Farro Foodkits is actually quite different in that it's not based on a weekly subscription. Launched in March, the company lets you choose the meals you want, and buy just one or many of the packs.

Picking the Foodkits

I was initially excited that I could look through the different meal kits and pick the ones that would work best for us. They were sorted into a number of different categories, and it was great to see one called "Express".

Many categories of foodkits.

The home page also had a section showcasing featured foodkits, which have not only been designed by Masterchef judge Ray McVinnie, but also looked delicious and very affordable, at around $10 per portion.

Featured foodkits for the week.

It was only after I clicked through to the foodkit listings that I realised those options would take quite a long time for a midweek meal, with a prep time of 20 minutes and a cooking time of 30-35 minutes.

I then navigated to the Express category, which had 10 items on offer. They didn't really seem all that quick to make though, ranging from 25 minutes for Ray's Steak and Guacamole Wraps to 45 minutes for Ray's Meatball Pizza. Some meals from other categories take about the same amount of time, while other ones need you to cook the dish for an hour, on top of a 20 minute prep time.

Foodkit listing from the Healthy Eating category.

To be honest, I found the meal selection process to be quite draining. I wanted an ingredient delivery service to save me time, and here I was wasting plenty of it, browsing through the options. It wouldn't have been so bad if there were a way of sorting the foodkits by time required, or if I could have had an overview of what's available across all the categories instead of having to click through into each one (or I guess, if I weren't trying to optimise my choices). I started to wonder if I would be better off picking a quick recipe from the internet, and ordering the ingredients from the supermarket.

In the end, I decided to go with:

• Express: Ray's Thai Fish with Cucumber and Peanut Salad (serves 4)
• Tempt Your Tastebuds: Ray's Balti Chicken Curry (serves 2)

Ordering the Foodkits

Once you've decided what you want to eat, you choose a delivery date and suburb. A great advantage of Farro Foodkits is that you can order for the next day, if it's between Tuesday and Saturday. You could be tempted into going overboard and ordering a pack to be delivered each day, but a $10 delivery fee shown in your shopping cart would remind you to be more reasonable.

Shopping cart showing delivery fees.

Another thing I liked about Farro Foodkits is that you can add sides (various salads and carbs) to your meal, along with drinks (wine) and other extras you might need (such as milk, butter, eggs, bacon, and olive oil). This means you can make sure you eat plenty of greens, as well as save a trip to the supermarket for simple grocery items.

Some of the sides on offer.

Foodkit Delivery

I realised after I ordered that we would be out on the night we were getting the food delivered, but the company was happy to put extra ice in the box for us. We took everything out when we got home and it was all still safely chilled.

The meat (and icepack) was in a completely sealed silver bag, which we needed scissors to open. The rest of the ingredients were in Farro Fresh shopping bags, grouped by meal. A plastic sleeve contained a thank you letter, the recipe instructions for each food kit, and an ingredients checklist. It was then that I discovered the Balti chicken curry did not come with rice, though it wasn't an issue as we have plenty of rice on hand anyway.

Contents of box delivered.

Meal #1: Ray's Thai Fish with Cucumber and Peanut Salad

We decided to start with the fish meal on the assumption that it wouldn't last as long, even though it was intended for 4 people and we would end up needing several days to finish it. There was a very generous portion of fish supplied, and we were surprised that the rice was raw, given the foodkit was in the Express category. The first instruction on the recipe was, of course, to cook the rice (we cheated and used a rice cooker, which took us around 40 minutes—supposedly it takes only 25 minutes on the stovetop).

Ingredients for Thai fish meal.

The other thing that took a long time was preparing the cucumber for the salad. After scooping out the seeds and dicing the flesh, you let the cucumber sit in salt for 15 minutes before squeezing it dry. I had plenty to do while waiting for it though: chopping the coriander and garlic for the fish marinade, separating and cleaning the leaves of cos lettuce, chopping the peanuts, picking the mint leaves and slicing the tomatoes and limes.

Chopped coriander and garlic on the fish fillets, before marinating.

The only thing that was different from what you might buy yourself from the supermarket was the liquid mix, which the recipe sheet told us contained sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce and lime juice. The coriander did not come attached to the root (we got this our WOOP meal kit), so some leaves were a bit yellow, speckled and wilting, though in general, the ingredients felt fresh.

Preparing the salad.

We disobeyed the recipe on more than one occasion, refusing to cook the fish without salt or additional oil. We sliced the lime into wedges, rather than serving half a lime on each plate. There was so much fish we needed to cook it in three batches, and we left one batch marinating overnight for pan-frying the next day.

Our rendition of Ray's Thai fish with cucumber and peanut salad.

The end result? We loved the salad, which was savoury, spicy and crunchy. The fish needed salt for flavour, and I'm not sure that all the work chopping coriander and garlic improved it that much, though it does look impressive. We would prefer the fish meal we had from WOOP for its quick preparation time and beautiful tamarind flavour, but this cucumber salad is something we would definitely make again.

Meal #2: Ray's Balti Chicken Curry

We didn't get to Ray's Balti Chicken Curry for several days, because there was enough fish for 5 - 6 people in the previous meal, though only about the right amount of vegetables for 3 - 4. The letter accompanying the food told us to cook our meals within 3 - 4 days, so I was dismayed to discover that the free range chicken had a "best before" date only two days from the delivery date, and we were two days past it already. We decided to cook it anyway, since it smelt fine and we hate food waste.

Ingredients for balti chicken curry.

I'm not sure why the yoghurt came in two separate containers. I mention this because I found them difficult to open, and while trying to prise the lid off at the same time as cooking our curry, I actually made my thumb bleed (I also found it annoying I needed scissors to open the coriander and spice packets, but that's another matter). The ginger came in two pieces as well, and they looked so different (one piece was sprouting) that I thought for a moment they were different ingredients.

Again, everything was pretty much as you would buy it from the supermarket, apart from the spice mix, which combined cardamom pods, chilli flakes, cinnamon and turmeric for you.

Chopped ingredients for the curry.

Once you've chopped the vegetables (onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli, tomato, coriander, lemon zest) and chicken thighs, the cooking part was pretty straightforward: fry the aromatics, add the chicken, then the tomato, then the yoghurt. It was fun and fascinating watching the contents of the pan change in colour, and it smelt mouth-watering too.

Cooking chopped chicken thighs with vegetables and spices.

The finished curry was fragrant, with the flavour of the spices brought out by the fresh ginger. We managed to get 3 meals out of the $20 kit so it was not expensive either—a great option if you have the time to prepare it.

Ray's balti chicken curry.

Comparison with Supermarket Shopping

What if, for argument's sake, I already had Ray's recipes, and decided to get the ingredients from the supermarket myself?

I plugged the items for the Thai style fish into Countdown's online shopping website and the total came to $75.94, including a delivery fee of $15.75. Excluding delivery, it was $60.19. The fish foodkit only cost $45, so it compares very favourably. Of course, you would end up with leftovers when you buy from the supermarket. For instance, you only need one tablespoon of fish sauce, not a whole bottle.

I tried again, this time assuming you already have the sauces and garlic at home, and grow your own limes, mint and coriander. This reduced shopping cart would cost you less than the Farro Foodkit, but not by that much if you include delivery for both.

Minimal shopping from supermarket for Thai style fish meal.

Entering the ingredients for the chicken curry gave me a similar result, even though Countdown didn't have a free range option for the boneless chicken thigh, so I had to substitute a cheaper item.

Conclusion

Farro Foodkits produce high-quality, inexpensive and delicious meals, but you are essentially cooking from scratch, so you need more time to prepare them than the previously reviewed WOOP dinners. If your chopping skills are not honed and sharpened, you are likely take longer than the recipe suggests too, unless you have a helper in the kitchen.

The service offers more flexibility with delivery dates than I have seen elsewhere, and there is no minimum order or ongoing subscription. You do, however, need to spend time choosing what meal(s) you want, and take note of whether extra ingredients are required (e.g. rice for curry).

I liked the fact that you can purchase additional salads or grocery items such as bread and milk, even though it adds extra steps to the ordering process. Also, you can reuse the recipes, because even when ingredients have been premixed, you are told how much of each component went into it.

Overall, Farro Foodkits are great if you want a tasty and healthy home-cooked meal, and can spare the time and energy to prepare it. It can be cheaper and more convenient than buying ingredients from the supermarket, and you can be pretty sure the result will be good. You will have fun in the kitchen and maybe learn some things too. If only we weren't always so tired and hungry when we get home from work!

WOOP! Easy Midweek Meals

WOOP! Makes you feel happy already, right? The first time I heard about the ready-to-cook meal delivery service (actually short for World On Our Plate), it was because I was on the TOMeTTE mailing list, and founder Thomas Dietz, whose new venture this was, offered us a $25 voucher to try it. I liked the idea of being able to create a tasty meal in 15 minutes, but then promptly forgot about it. I came across a thoughtful review of the initiative from Genie at Bunny Eats Design, again with a $25 discount offer, and again I filed it away in the back of my mind as something I needed to look into. It wasn't until someone at work had a flyer about it that I actually did something!

Part of a WOOP flyer.

And do I did! Not only did I sign myself up for a WOOP box with three meals inside, I bought shares in the company through Snowball Effect, even before I tried the service. It wasn't that I thought WOOP would be better than all current and future competitors; rather, it was the only such company that gave me a chance to have a slice of the pie, and I am guessing that having a quick and easy dinner on hand would be more and more important in our busy lives. So there you go, full disclosure, though I will still give you an honest opinion below.

Ordering my WOOP Box

Getting started was pretty easy: just create an account, select your plan (I picked Table for Two for $109 per week, then used a $25 discount voucheer), and choose your delivery date (always a Sunday between 4-8pm). The only thing that I found unexpected was the 6-day lead time you need to start or stop your subscription. That's quite a bit of forward planning required!

WOOP Box Delivery

On the Saturday before delivery, I got an email telling me what the three meals for the week were, so even though I wasn't there when the courier turned up on Sunday, I knew what would be in the box.

My first WOOP box.

The ingredients came in discrete packets, colour-coded by meal. The same coloured spot was printed onto the matching menu to make everything crystal clear. In case you were feeling guilty from all the packaging you generated, the bottom of each recipe reminds you that the box and ice pack are recyclable (supposedly the vacuum pack film and trays are too, but I don't think the council would take them). There was even a little handwritten thank-you note inside!

WOOP box unpacked.

An index card told you what you needed for each meal, and I checked that everything was in the box. The main thing that confused me was that there were four tomatoes which weren't colour-coded. The fish meal called for "tomatoes", and the steak meal listed "small vine tomatoes" even though the name of the dish had "cherry tomatoes". I decided to use two tomatoes for each.

Index and recipe cards.

Meal #1: Fresh Monkfish Infused with Tamarind Served on a Bed of Rice with Poppadoms and Snow Peas

Because of the expiry dates of the ingredients, you basically had to eat your meals in a particular order. Our first dinner had the most components, sounded the most exciting, and was actually better than we expected. And it took us less than 15 minutes to put together!

Ingredients for monkfish curry meal.

First, we opened the packet of raw monkfish and tipped out any liquid (though we briefly wondered if we were meant to do that, since there was no mention of it in the instructions). Then we poured in the tamarind marinade (labelled "fish marinade"), and mixed it around. It was good to see the marinade ingredients listed on the bottom of the container.

Marinating fish.

Meanwhile, we prepared the vegetables, and exclaimed over what a great idea it was to leave coriander attached to the root.

Coriander with root.

We also zapped the poppadoms in the microwave to make them crisp and bubbly, though they emitted a strange smell and weren't as crisp as the ones you get at a restaurant.

Poppadoms before and after 20 seconds in the microwave.

Then we basically heated up the curry sauce and poached the fish in it, and chucked the rice in the microwave.

Curry sauce.

That was it! We threw everything onto a plate, and devoured it. We didn't care for the poppadoms, but the curry itself was fragrant and beautifully flavoured, tangy with plenty of ginger. We would happily eat this again!

Monkfish curry - not that pretty, but tasted great!

Meal #2: Softly Baked Chicken Thighs Served with Traditional Spanish Patatas Bravas

Our second meal was even easier to prepare, but took longer because you needed to preheat your oven before baking the chicken and potatoes.

Fewer ingredients for baked chicken.

I was pleasantly surprised to find whole cherry tomatoes in the sauce, though it tasted a bit thin compared to the complexity of flavours we experienced the previous night. After 20 minutes in the oven, the chicken and potatoes heated through, but didn't really crisp up. Perhaps it could have done with a higher temperature.

Baked chicken and potatoes.

The portions were large (we didn't manage to eat the three chicken thighs), but sadly, we didn't enjoy our dinner as much as before.

Meal #3: Juicy Sirloin Steak Served with Salsa Verde, Roasted Kumara, Cherry Tomatoes and Mesclun Salad

For our last WOOP meal, we baked the kumara for longer and at a higher temperature than specified, and also cooked the steak the way we normally do.

Steak meal ingredients.

The end result was actually pretty similar to what we might have put together ourselves, except that we would have cooked the kumara from scratch, and not have had the salsa verde (we didn't have much of it anyway because its strongly garlicky flavour overpowered the rest of the meal).

Simple steak with kumara and salad.

In fact, we would probably have cooked a better meal ourselves, because we could have done a better job of the kumara, bought better meat, and picked a more interesting vegetable like Brussels sprouts, courgettes or asparagus. Mesclun is the kind of thing we buy when we can't be bothered, and if we were to sign up for a food delivery service, it would be to get away from that.

Still pink in the middle.

Conclusion

I think there's a demand for home-cooked meals that are quick to prepare, yet fresh and delicious. If all the meals had been like our first one, we would be chuffed. Unfortunately, you can't know what you will have in your box until after you have ordered it, and we had food envy looking at what Genie got in hers (she only had one set of boring leaves, and at least it came with edible flowers!).

There is no point in keeping the recipe cards, because you would need the prepped ingredients to make use of them. Having said that, I am often home so late that I would pick this over cooking from scratch, and it is more fun and fresh than a freezer meal, and more healthy than a takeaway.

At around $18 per meal per person, it feels a bit too expensive for what it is, especially when I consider how basic meal #3 was. However, it does include delivery so it saves on travel as well as cooking time, and as this service is still new, I am confident the team will be able to take on feedback and improve their offerings. Looking forward to trying this again, when they have had more time to work on their menus!

This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event aimed at inspiring us to try new things. This month, it is hosted by Hannah from Love The Little Bakery.