Simply Cook Recipe Round-Up

Last month I wrote about how I’d been giving Simply Cook’s recipe kit boxes a go and how pleased I was with the first recipe which was one of my favourites: Jerk Chicken. I promised I’d let you know how I got on with the rest of the box. I’ve only made three out of the four dishes so far but overall I’m really enjoying all of the recipes.

Creamy Chorizo Pasta

What I really like about Simply Cook as a subscription service is that they’re pretty flexible as to how regularly you receive your recipe box. You can sign up for the standard once a month deal and you can order extra boxes in between if there’s something you particularly want to make. Alternatively you can do what I’ve set mine for, I’m signed up to a monthly subscription but as once a month is a bit much for me, I use the option to skip a month or two until I’m ready to receive another one. This is also great if you’re away on holiday and you need to skip a box.

After my Jerk chicken, the next recipe I tried was the creamy chorizo pasta, pictured above. This dish was right up my street. I like a rich and creamy sauce, I love chorizo and I’m an absolute pastaholic. What I really enjoyed about this particular dish was making the tomato based sauce. I always have a stash of chopped tomatoes in my cupboards for spaghetti bolognese, pasta bakes etc. but it was really refreshing to make this one from cooked down fresh tomatoes. It gave the whole thing a much more lifted fresher flavour than my usual method. I was really surprised at how quickly they broke down too. The sauce was so tasty but, be warned, go easy on the chilli flakes. It suggested to put in a few in at a time so that you could adjust the heat to your taste, I put in roughly a third thinking that I have a reasonable tolerance to spice levels but this was definitely pushing my user limit, I’m glad I didn’t chuck the whole pot in at once!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a dish I’d definitely order again. Simply Cook selects four recipes at random for your box but also gives you the opportunity to change them before the delivery date so you can re-order a favourite dish or browse through their recipe collection and pick something that you fancy trying.

The final dish I have sampled so far from my kit is spicy Cajun chicken & quinoa. A recent convert to quinoa, I’ve been trying out a lot of the Merchant Gourmet range of this particular grain and so I mixed up the suggested recipe a bit as I already had some ready cooked quinoa in the cupboard. This is one of the things I like about the way these recipe kits work, as they’re just providing the sauces, marinades and seasonings and a flexible shopping list with optional ingredients, it gives you the freedom to mix it up a bit, especially if you’re a bit more of an experienced cook.

Spicy Cajun Chicken with Quinoa

Other than mixing up my method of doing the quinoa, and adding a bit of extra veg to it, I stuck pretty much to the basic recipe with the rest of this dish. The marinade on the chicken was really tasty with a deep smoky flavour and the meat came out really juicy, it was also baked rather than pan-fried making it a decent healthy option.

I’m yet to make the Malay Laksa that came with my recipe kit but I’m already looking forward to what surprises may come in my next box!

Click here for £5 off your Simply Cook Box

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