We were recently sent some lovely products from Mash Direct. As I am currently on the Diet Chef plan, this review fell into the capable hands of Mr Hubby. He has such a hard life!
Well, I’ve had a hard week this week – I’ve had to eat lots of lovely, farm fresh vegetables that had been delivered by the nice people at Mash Direct!
I must apologise in advance to any vegetarians who happen upon this review, as I tend to see vegetables as part of a meal that usually also contains meat and, as such, all of these products were tasted in that way.
The first product I tried was the Cauliflower Cheese Gratin. Cauliflower Cheese is a favourite meal in our house and I usually make my own, adding in a few extras like onions and bacon. So, adhering to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” ideal, I decided to keep it simple and had the Gratin with some crispy bacon and fresh crusty bread. The first thing that struck me was how good the Cauliflower tasted; it was full of flavour (and that’s not something that often strikes me about Cauliflower I must admit). The sauce was wonderfully creamy and the grated cheese and crumb topping had melted and slightly browned in the oven. The only down side was that I ate it too quickly!
What also struck me was how I seem to be taking lots of photos of my food lately and I’m afraid I couldn’t get this from dish to plate in a way that would make a good photo (I should point out that this says more about my artistic skills than it does the food as it looked lovely in the dish).
My second meal included the Chilli Baby Bakes; new potatoes with breadcrumbs and chilli flakes. To be frank, there wasn’t much cooking involved in this meal – the potatoes were the start and end of it! I bought some Salmon and green salad as I decided that these would be good accompaniments for the potatoes. It was a good choice (well done me) as the chilli livened up the salmon nicely, without overpowering it. Also, the breadcrumbs on the potatoes provided a nice addition in terms of texture. It was definitely something I’d have again (I think the words I actually used were “nom nom”).
My next venture was a double whammy; the Maris Piper potato mash and the Carrot and Parsnip mash were cooked together (at the same time in the oven that is, not “together”) and eaten with a Chicken, Leek and Ham hock pie and green beans. Again, both mashes were excellent. We usually have Swede with Carrot if we’re mashing, but I think the Parsnip was a better option; it has more flavour and is slightly sweeter so would also go very well with a roast dinner (as would the Gratin, come to think of it). The potato was just what I want from mash – moist, smooth and well seasoned (which made a pleasant change from some I’ve tasted in the past).
I’m not great at meal planning for the week – I quite often get home from work, realise I forgot to get anything out of the freezer that morning and end up having beans on toast for dinner. If that sounds familiar, it’s worth noting that, if frozen, the products should be defrosted thoroughly before cooking, so a bit of forward planning may be required. Obviously, the best way to eat them would be without them having been in the freezer in the first place as they would be at their prime.
We all know that the sooner a vegetable is cooked after it’s picked/dug up etc the tastier it tends to be and the Mash Direct products are all grown, steam cooked and packed on their farm which ensures that they reach us in the best possible condition.
Also, there are no artificial flavourings, preservatives or colourings in the Mash Direct products and all have a low salt content, so they are helping to look after our bodies as well as our taste buds!
We were also sent some potato, cheese and onion croquettes which I have yet to try – I’m thinking chicken breast with bacon and Mozzarella and peas. If they are anything like the other Mash Direct products, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.
Disclosure: We were sent these products in return for an honest review.